Saturday is a school day in Iran. The girls of Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab had arrived at their desks and opened their books, just as they did every week. Most were between seven and twelve years old. None of them had anything to do with a war. By the end of that morning, at least 168 of them were dead.
The United States and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury on February 28, 2026, a massive military campaign hitting Iran’s nuclear sites, naval bases, and missile infrastructure simultaneously. In Minab, a port city in Hormozgan province, American missiles struck an IRGC Navy base. They also struck the girls’ school beside it.
Within hours, President Donald Trump stood aboard Air Force One and delivered his verdict to the world: ‘We think it was done by Iran. Because they’re very inaccurate with their munitions. They have no accuracy whatsoever. It was done by Iran.‘ There was no evidence for this. There was, however, a great deal of evidence for something else.
Three Missiles. One Collapsed Roof.
The school had not been part of any military facility for nearly a decade. It was a fully independent civilian school, its walls painted with murals of crayons, children, and apples. Three missiles struck it in rapid succession, collapsing the roof directly onto the students and teachers below.
A civilian medical clinic sitting between the school and the nearby military base was left completely untouched. The school and the base were destroyed. The clinic between them was not. Three independent experts confirmed the strike showed precise, deliberate impact points, the signature of a coordinated airstrike, not a stray weapon or an accident.
168 Girls. 14 Teachers. One Mass Grave.
Iranian authorities confirmed at least 165 dead, with 96 others wounded. Human Rights Watch reviewed a published list of victims and found that the overwhelming majority were children. Shiva Amelirad of the Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations described the final minutes: the school had tried to send students home when strikes began, but there was almost no time. Many parents had not yet arrived. The roof came down before they could reach the gates.
On March 3, Iran held a mass funeral in Minab’s public square. Excavators dug more than a hundred graves while thousands of mourners watched. Small caskets draped in the Iranian flag were carried through the crowd. One mother held a sign that read: ‘A document of American crimes.’
Liberation That Kills the Liberated
Before the bombs fell, Trump had addressed the Iranian people directly. He said America was not at war with them, only with the regime that oppressed them. He called it liberation. Minab answered that promise with 168 small bodies and a hundred fresh graves.
UNESCO called the bombing a grave violation of humanitarian law. Five UN human rights experts issued a formal condemnation. Malala Yousafzai said she was heartbroken and appalled. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote: ‘These crimes against the Iranian people will not go unanswered.‘ Washington said the investigation was ongoing.
What Is Left in Minab
What is left is a hole in the ground where a school once stood. What is left is a mass grave in a public square and more than a hundred families missing someone who was seven years old. What is left is a verified video of a Tomahawk cruise missile, America’s missile flying into the compound while the school was already burning.
168 girls. Killed in their classroom on a Saturday morning. America sent the missiles. America blamed Iran. The world condemned it. And the investigation remains ongoing.
