UN human rights chief Volker Türk has publicly urged the United States to finalize its investigation into a deadly strike on an Iranian primary school that occurred during the recent war last month. The official stated at an urgent Human Rights Council debate in Geneva that justice must be served for the terrible harm caused by the incident. He emphasized that transparency is required regarding the findings of the inquiry before the international community moves forward with its own assessments and diplomatic responses.
The attack on Shajareh Tayyebeh school consisted of two missile strikes in quick succession that killed at least 168 people, according to Iranian officials who released casualty lists. This number includes about 110 children who were present inside the building at the time of the bombing near Minab city. American media have reported that military investigators believe their own forces were likely responsible for hitting the school unintentionally during intense combat operations in the region.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth previously said the matter was being investigated by his department to ensure accountability. Democrats in the US Senate wrote to him demanding answers about the strike earlier this month after initial reports surfaced. The letter asked a series of detailed questions about whether the United States carried out the attack or if faulty analysis led to the error in targeting.
Intelligence sources reported that officers at Central Command created target coordinates using outdated data provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency. Reports indicate the intended target was an adjacent base belonging to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, where the school building was formerly a part of the compound. But satellite imagery from mid-2015 showed the school building was walled off from the rest of the base and appeared to have operated as a school since at least 2018.
Expert video analysis has shown the IRGC base was hit by a Tomahawk missile, a type of US cruise missile neither Israel nor Iran is known to possess in their arsenals. A video published by Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency showed a missile in the moments before it struck the base and caused significant damage. Experts who saw the footage said the presence of the missile and evidence of multiple strikes indicated that it was a United States operation rather than an Iranian one.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a video address to the UN meeting in Geneva that the bombing was a deliberate and intentional attack by the US government. He stated this atrocity cannot be justified, concealed, or met with silence and indifference during the current crisis involving multiple regional actors. Senior US officials have said the strike is under investigation, calling for the process to be concluded as soon as possible to restore trust in military operations.
The Pentagon said it would respond directly to the authors of the Senate letter, as with all congressional correspondence regarding defense matters. Hegseth previously said the United States did not target civilians and was investigating the issue thoroughly within his department's command structure. A UN fact-finding mission opened its own investigation into the strike on March 17 to gather further evidence independently from military sources.
The strike, if a US role were to be confirmed, would amount to one of its worst single cases of civilian casualties in decades of United States conflicts in the Middle East region. Images of bombed-out classrooms and grieving parents showed clearly who pays the highest price for war: civilians with no power in the decisions that led to conflict escalation.
Volker Türk added that there must be justice for the terrible harm done by those who carried out the attack during this volatile period. He said the onus is on those who carried out the attack to investigate it promptly, impartially, transparently and thoroughly according to international standards. This process remains a critical focal point for international diplomatic efforts surrounding the ongoing regional conflict between Iran and its adversaries.
