Calls grow for independent probe into deadly Iranian girls’ school attack | Israel-Iran conflict news

UN experts say ‘there is no excuse for killing girls in the classroom’, amid calls for justice after Minab primary school attack.

Calls are growing for an independent investigation into an attack on a girls’ school in southern Iran that killed 165 young students this week, with United Nations experts condemning the deadly bombing as a “serious attack on children”.

In a statement Friday, a group of UN experts said the main victims of Saturday’s attack on Minab’s elementary school were girls between the ages of seven and 12 — the first day of Israel’s war against the United States and Iran.

“An attack on a school operating during class time raises very serious concerns under international law and should be investigated urgently, independently and effectively, with accountability for any violations,” he said.

“A school strike represents a serious attack on children, on education and on the future of the entire community,” experts said. “There is no excuse for killing girls in the classroom.”

Rights advocates have pointed to the Minab school attack as evidence of potential war crimes in the Israeli-US war, which legal experts say was launched in violation of the UN Charter and international law.

They say it is an example of the heavy toll Iranian citizens are paying amid the conflict, which has killed at least 1,332 people so far, according to recent figures cited by Iran’s state media.

Iran’s UN ambassador Amir Saeed Iravani told reporters on Monday that the school was “deliberately destroyed” in the US-Israeli attack against the country. “As a result, 165 innocent schoolgirls were martyred. I repeat it – 165 schoolgirls were martyred,” he said.

Investigations published in recent days indicate that the administration of US President Donald Trump is responsible for the attack.

Reuters news agency reported on Thursday, citing two unnamed US officials, that US military investigators believed US forces were likely responsible.

Using satellite imagery and verified videos, as well as official statements, The New York Times said US forces “likely carried out the strike” because it was conducting an attack on an adjacent naval base run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday that Washington is investigating the incident.

“The War Department and the United States Armed Forces do not target civilians,” he said.

“Whatever the outcome of the investigations, we hope that they will be carried out quickly and that they will be done in full transparency,” UN human rights chief Volker Turk told reporters on Friday.

“We expect that accountability will be met because obviously mistakes were made,” Turk said in Geneva, Switzerland, stressing that “accountability is absolutely crucial” along with compensation and redress.

“It’s a lesson to be learned – a terrible, tragic lesson to be learned – when girls are killed like this,” he said.

“Not only guarantees of non-repetition, but I think a review of all standard operating procedures when it comes to these issues and especially when it comes to the conduct of war.”

Meanwhile, US-based advocacy group DAWN has urged Iran to give the International Criminal Court (ICC) jurisdiction over crimes committed on its territory since the war began.

“From the killing of more than 150 students and teachers to strikes on hospitals full of newborns, more and more evidence is emerging that points to the commission of serious war crimes in Iran since the start of the war,” said Omar Shakir, the group’s executive director.

“Victims deserve justice. Procedures exist and the US has no veto over them.”