Iran accuses US and Israel of genocide

Iran has accused the US and Israel of genocide over the “deliberate” targeting of schools and education facilities in strikes on the country.

In a post on X on Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said more than 600 schools and educational facilities across Iran have been targeted in US-Israeli attacks over the past month, including the Shajareh Tayyebeh School in Minab where more than 160 children were killed.

”This is not an isolated act of cruelty – it is part of a systematic and brutal pattern of illegal warfare against Iran,” he wrote. “The term ‘war crime’ falls far short of adequately describing these atrocities. Given the explicit rhetoric of hostility toward Iranians (as a nation) expressed by US/Israeli officials, these crimes amount to genocide.”

The US-Israeli war on Iran began with massive strikes on urban centers on February 28, including the bombing of the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school, which killed at least 175 people, more than 160 of them children. American and Israeli officials initially offered conflicting denials and explanations, with US President Donald Trump even suggesting the attack was “done by Iran.”

However, the Pentagon has opened a probe, and reports claim investigators have already confirmed the US carried out the strike using “outdated targeting data” that misclassified the school as part of a nearby military compound.

On the same day as the Minab strike, a school and sports hall in the southern Iranian city of Lamerd were also hit, killing at least 21 people. A New York Times report, citing footage analysis and weapons experts, said the attack was carried out by the US using the previously untested Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), which detonates above targets and disperses small tungsten pellets.

While the strike in Lamerd drew scant global attention, the atrocity in Minab has sparked condemnation. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused the US and Israel of “cruelty, cynicism, and dehumanization.” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez both declared solidarity with the victims of the “massacre.” However, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and the UN Security Council (UNSC) both failed to adopt formal resolutions condemning the atrocity.

The US and Israel have maintained an air offensive on Iran for over a month, killing more than 1,340 people, according to official data. Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel and US bases in the Middle East.

Trump claimed on Wednesday the war is “nearing completion,” but threatened to intensify airstrikes over the next two to three weeks unless Iran’s leadership capitulates. Baqaei earlier said Tehran had received messages via intermediaries signaling US willingness to negotiate, but called the proposals “unrealistic, illogical and excessive.” Iranian officials insisted Tehran would end the conflict on its own terms and accused the US of sabotaging earlier negotiations.

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