Israeli army strikes

The U.S. is looking into the reports and says it does not target civilians.

Israeli officials say Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei believed dead in strikes

Israeli officials say Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei believed dead in strikesIran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is believed to be dead in the joint U.S. and Israeli strikes on Tehran, multiple Israeli officials tell ABC News.
Abbas Zakeri/Mehr News/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Dozens of students at an Iranian all-girls elementary school were among those killed during the U.S. and Israeli military strikes throughout the country Saturday morning, officials in Iran claimed.

The country’s leaders and state TV said 115 people who were at the Shajare Tayyiba Elementary School were dead, as of about 5:30 p.m. ET after the school in Minab was attacked.

Earlier Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported at least 92 injuries related to the school attack, citing the local governor.

PHOTO: This image grab taken from Iranian state television broadcasted on Feb. 28, 2026, show what it says is the site of deadly US and Israeli strikes that hit a girls' elementary school in Minab, near the Strait of Hormuz.

This image grab taken from Iranian state television broadcasted on Feb. 28, 2026, show what it says is the site of deadly US and Israeli strikes that hit a girls’ elementary school in Minab, in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan near the strategic sea route of the Strait of Hormuz.
Alex Mita/IRIB TV via AFP via Getty Images

Iranian officials have not immediately said how many of the dead and wounded are children.

A view shows the aftermath of an Israel strike on a school in Minab, Iran, Feb. 28, 2026.
Abbas Zakeri/Mehr News/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian blasted the United States and Israeli governments for the deaths and injuries in a statement Saturday carried by the IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency.

“This barbaric act is another black page in the record of countless crimes committed by the aggressors against this land that will never be erased from the historical memory of our nation,” he said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an X post that the school was “bombed in broad daylight, when packed with young pupils.”

This picture obtained from Iran’s ISNA news agency shows the site of a strike on a girls’ school in Minab, in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province, on Feb. 28, 2026.
Ali Najafi/ISNA via AFP via Getty Images

A spokesman for U.S. Central Command said in a statement that it would look into the reports about the school being bombed but emphasized, “Unlike Iran, we have never — and will never — target civilians.”

Rescue workers and residents search through the rubble in the aftermath of an Israeli-U.S. strike on a girls’ elementary school in Minab, Iran, on Feb. 28, 2026.
Abbas Zakeri/Mehr News Agency via AP

“We take these reports seriously and are looking into them,” Capt. Tim Hawkins, a CENTCOM spokesman, said in a statement. “The protection of civilians is of utmost importance, and we will continue to take all precautions available to minimize the risk of unintended harm.”

US-Israeli operation against Iran was in the works for months, IDF says

International law prohibits the deliberate targeting of schools and universities during armed conflicts.

The U.S. military has a rigorous targeting process using different forms of intelligence to ensure that any targets to be struck by bombs or missiles are, in fact, enemy targets and will not harm civilians or strike civilian targets.

Rescue workers and residents search through the rubble in the aftermath of an Israeli-U.S. strike on a girls’ elementary school in Minab, Iran, Feb. 28, 2026.
Abbas Zakeri/Mehr News Agency via AP

Claims of civilian casualties are investigated as much as possible, although it may not be possible to do so in areas controlled by hostile forces.

This picture obtained from Iran’s ISNA news agency shows the site of a strike on a girls’ school in Minab, in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province, on Feb. 28, 2026.
Ali Najafi/ISNA via AFP via Getty Images

The Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, a non-profit that tracks military attacks on academic institutions, documented more than 6,000 attacks on schools, universities, students and education personnel worldwide between 2022 and 2023.

The group’s global research found that 10,000 students and education personnel were killed, injured, abducted or otherwise harmed during that time period.