Iranian School Hit in Opening Strikes of War Becomes Memorial to Slain Children

In the southern Iranian town of Minab, a school that was hit during the opening salvos of the war that began on February 28 will never reopen its doors for classes. The Shajareh Tayyebeh school's blue gate, still adorned with paintings of Iran's map and pencils meant to welcome students, now leads visitors past rows of photographs showing children at birthday parties and other moments of everyday life. These same young faces are now also seen on black mourning banners throughout the site.

The attack, part of the initial wave of strikes launched by the United States and Israel, killed more than 100 students, according to Iranian officials. The Trump administration has yet to formally acknowledge responsibility for the specific strike on the school or release findings from a Pentagon investigation, despite evidence suggesting at least one U.S. missile hit the building.

The building itself remains a stark tableau of the attack. Classrooms are frozen in time, with desks half-buried under debris and ceilings collapsed. The ruins have prompted calls for preservation, and Hormozgan Governor Mohammad Ashouri Taziani has announced the structure will be converted into a war museum and memorial.

A section of Minab's cemetery has been dedicated to the victims, where families move quietly across artificial grass covering the graves. Residents report that the bodies of three of the victims have still not been recovered.

The town's attention has recently been drawn back to the tragedy as a fresh wave of U.S. strikes along Iran's southern coast hit a wedding and other locations, sending some of the wounded to a hospital in Minab.