Iran holds mass funeral for 165 killed in alleged Israeli missile attack on school
Mourners lined the streets of Minab in the south of the country to pay their respects after the deadly strikes destroyed the school on Saturday.
Iran has held a mass funeral for the 165 schoolgirls and staff killed after US-Israeli missiles destroyed a girls' school.
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Mourners lined the streets of Minab in the south of the country to pay their respects after the deadly strikes destroyed the school on Saturday.
Many were draped in Iranian flags and held pictures of the victims in what has been the bloodiest incident of the US-Iran war so far.
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As the coffins were carried through the packed streets, those in attendance threw petals on them before they were taken to a mass grave site dug by locals.
The attack was condemned by human rights charities and UNESCO and Nobel Peace Prize-winning education activist Malala Yousafzai.
Deliberately attacking an educational institution, hospital or any other civilian structure is a war crime under international humanitarian law.
The six-day working week in Iran runs from Saturday to Thursday, meaning the school was likely occupied when it was hit.
Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei accused Washington and Tel Aviv of “continuing to indiscriminately strike residential areas, sparing neither hospitals, schools, Red Crescent facilities, nor cultural monuments”.
Responding to the school strike allegations, the Israeli military said it was not aware of any Israeli or US attacks in that area.
The school was located near an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) base, which has previously been a target.
On Saturday, 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".
UN rights chief Volker Türk said he was "deeply shocked" by the Minab attack and called for a "prompt, impartial and thorough investigation”.
In a statement reported in US media, Centcom spokesman Tim Hawkins said: "We take these reports seriously."
"The protection of civilians is of utmost importance, and we will continue to take all precautions available to minimise the risk of unintended harm."
Some 787 Iranians have been killed in the US and Israeli strikes, which began on Saturday, the country's Red Crescent Society said.
Iran has retaliated with a wave of attacks across the Middle East and the ongoing conflict, which has now entered its fourth day, has caused economic chaos across the globe.