Iranian state media said the death toll from Saturday’s missile strike on a girls’ elementary school rose to 165, citing local officials, and reported 96 people were wounded.
The school is about 600 meters from a base linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has previously been targeted, reports said.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian called the incident a “barbaric act” and “another black page in the record of countless crimes committed by the aggressors.”
Iran blamed Washington and Israel. The US military’s Central Command said it was looking into the reports, while Israel’s military said it was “not aware” of any operations in the area.
Capt. Tim Hawkins, a Centcom spokesperson, said: “We take these reports seriously. The protection of civilians is of utmost importance, and we will continue to take all precautions available to minimize the risk of unintended harm.”
Iran’s Red Crescent said at least 201 people have been killed in air strikes in Iran and 747 hurt since Saturday.
Red Cross and Red Crescent officials in Geneva said response teams were mobilized to go to the school after the incident.
Hossein Kermanpour, a spokesperson for Iran’s health ministry, called the bombing “the most bitter news” of the conflict so far, adding: “God knows how many more children’s bodies they will pull from under the rubble.”
Restrictions on international reporting in Iran mean independent media have not been able to access the site or verify the death toll, reports said.
Video and photographs verified as authentic and geolocated to the site showed crowds around a partially collapsed, smoking building, with rubble across the street and people digging for victims, according to reports.
The strike came as the United States and Israel launched repeated air strikes on targets in several Iranian cities, with attacks continuing on Sunday, reports said.
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Source: BBC, The New York Times, The Guardian, UN News