Thousands of mourners lined the streets of Minab in southern Iran on Tuesday for the funeral of victims of an airstrike that destroyed a girls’ elementary school, killing at least 175 people, many of them children attending classes.
The bombing, which occurred on Saturday, struck the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school while lessons were under way, according to Iranian officials and local health authorities.
Footage and images verified by international media showed that a large section of the two-storey building was reduced to rubble.
The attack is among the deadliest single incidents since the United States (US) and Israel launched coordinated strikes against Iran at the weekend, triggering a rapid escalation across the Middle East.
Iranian authorities say more than 800 people have been killed region-wide since the fighting began, following the death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the opening phase of the campaign.
Ahead of Tuesday’s burial, rows of graves were dug at a cemetery several kilometres outside Minab.
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Video footage showed mourners accompanying trucks carrying coffins, with prayers and chants filling the air as the dead were laid to rest.
Satellite imagery reviewed by investigators indicated that the school stood adjacent to a naval base operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
While the building was once part of the military compound, it had been separated from the base and repurposed as a civilian school years earlier.
Neither Israel nor the United States has directly commented on the strike, however, US Central Command said it was aware of reports of civilian casualties and was reviewing the circumstances.
A second strike on Saturday reportedly hit a high school in Tehran, killing two students, according to rights groups.
Under international humanitarian law, schools and other civilian facilities are protected from attack.
The International Committee of the Red Cross says even where military targets are nearby, armed forces are required to take all feasible steps to minimise harm to civilians.