GENEVA (6 March 2026) – UN experts* today expressed
profound shock and grief after a girls’ primary school in
Minab, in Iran’s Hormozgan province, was struck during the
United States of America’s and Israeli military attacks on
28 February 2026, reportedly killing at least 165
schoolgirls and injuring many others.
“A strike on a
school represents a grave assault on children, on education,
and on the future of an entire community,” the experts
said. “There is no excuse for killing girls in a
classroom.”
According to reports, a missile struck
the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ school during school hours.
The victims were mainly girls aged between 7 and 12, and
large parts of the school building were destroyed while
classes were underway. This attack occurred amid escalating
hostilities in the region.
Schools are civilian
objects and children are expressly protected under
international humanitarian law, the experts underlined.
Directing attacks against civilian objects, including
schools, unless they become military objectives, is
prohibited under treaty and customary international
humanitarian law, and indiscriminate attacks are strictly
prohibited. Intentional attacks on educational buildings
that are not military objectives are war crimes listed in
the Rome Statute under article 8.
“An attack on a
functioning school during class hours raises the most
serious concerns under international law and must be
urgently, independently, and effectively investigated, with
accountability for any violations,” the experts said.
“Civilians must never be treated as
collateral.”
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They stressed that girls still face
gendered and intersecting barriers to education in different
contexts, including insecurity, discrimination, poverty, and
restrictions on safe access to learning.
“The
reported destruction of a school and the killing of girls in
a classroom is among the most flagrant examples of how
conflict can steal girls’ futures in an instant,
extinguishing not only young lives, but also the hopes,
agency, and opportunities education makes possible,” the
experts said.
They noted that the reported attack
unfolds against a backdrop of entrenched, systematic
gender-based discrimination in Iran that has profoundly
affected women’s and girls’ right to life and their
civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, from
marriage, divorce and inheritance to access to justice.
Women continue to be executed under the qisas system for
homicide, often after killing partners in the context of
domestic violence, sexual abuse and child marriage.
Meanwhile, discriminatory laws shield male perpetrators of
femicide from standard penalties, by allowing claims of
so-called “honour”, a woman’s perceived disobedience, or
her attempt to leave a marriage to serve as justification.
During the nationwide protests that began in December 2025,
over 200 children, including girls, were reportedly killed
by security forces, many others remain arbitrarily detained,
including children, and are reportedly facing the death
penalty.
“Our thoughts are with the families of the
victims and the survivors who now face unimaginable
trauma,” the experts said. “The killing of children can
never be justified.”
The experts reiterated their
call for an immediate end to hostilities and urged all
parties to fully respect their obligations under
international humanitarian law, protect civilians,
especially women and girls, guarantee accountability through
an independent and impartial investigation, and provide
effective redress for victims.
“During armed
conflict, education must be prioritised as much as other
lifesaving responses, as it provides protection, resilience
and social cohesion,” the experts said.
*The
experts:
- Claudia Flores (Chair), Ivana
Krstić (Vice-Chair), Dorothy Estrada Tanck, Haina Lu, and
Laura Nyirinkindi, Working
Group on discrimination against women and
girls - Mai Sato, Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic
Republic of Iran - Farida Shaheed, Special
Rapporteur on the right to
education
