Iranian Security Official Condemns US–’Israeli’ Strike on School in Minab

By Staff, Agencies

Iran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, strongly condemned the United States and "Israel" following a deadly airstrike on a school in southern Iran, accusing Washington and the "Israeli" entity of committing a brutal crime that claimed the lives of dozens of children and civilians.

In a statement posted on X on Thursday, Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, criticized the slogan of “peace through strength,” saying it had been “stained with blood” after the attack on a primary school in the city of Minab.

“With the mass martyrdom of innocent girls in a Minab school at the hands of American–"Israeli" criminals, the theory of ‘peace through strength’ has been stained with blood,” Larijani wrote.

Addressing US President Donald Trump directly, he added: “Mr. Trump! Was this the anthem of freedom you composed for Iran?! God exposes the deceivers by their own hand.”

The remarks came after a devastating strike on the two-story Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab, located in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province. According to Iranian officials, the attack occurred Saturday morning when multiple US–"Israeli" airstrikes targeted the school complex.

Authorities reported that five separate air raids struck the girls’ and boys’ sections of the school at approximately 11:30 a.m., followed hours later by another strike at around 3:40 p.m. that hit a nearby clinic.

Nearly 170 people were killed in the attack, most of them children. Dozens of female teachers and at least four parents were also among the victims, according to local officials.

The strike occurred amid a broader escalation that began earlier the same day when the United States and "Israel" launched what Iranian authorities described as an illegal act of aggression against the Islamic Republic.

During the wave of attacks, Iranian sources reported that "Israeli"-American strikes assassinated the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, His Eminence Martyr Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei, along with several high-ranking military commanders.

Iranian officials say the nationwide airstrikes have so far killed at least 1,045 people across the country.

In response, Iran’s armed forces launched waves of missile and drone attacks targeting "Israeli"-occupied territories as well as US military assets in regional countries, describing the operations as a lawful act of self-defense against aggression.

The escalation also follows earlier remarks by US President Donald Trump, who had told Iranians that “help is on the way” after economic protests in January were allegedly infiltrated by foreign intelligence networks and turned violent.