HAFIZABAD, Pakistan - On February 28, 2026, the first day of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, a Tomahawk missile struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in the southern city of Minab. The missile hit during class hours. Inside were young children, girls and boys between the ages of seven and twelve, sitting in their classrooms.

The first missile hit. Then came a second. Within minutes, the school was reduced to rubble.

According to Iranian officials, 168 students were killed in the attack.  The death toll rose to 168, including 120 students, 26 teachers, seven parents, and a school bus driver. Among the dead was a teacher who was six months pregnant. The remains of at least one child, the seven-year-old Makan Nasiri, were never found despite weeks of searching.

This was not a battlefield. This was a school.

A “mistake” that cost 168 futures

When asked about the Minab strike at the G7 summit, U.S. President Donald Trump called it “a mistake.” “Mistakes are made,” he said. “War is nasty.”

But Amnesty International’s investigation tells a different story. The rights group concluded that a U.S.-made precision-guided Tomahawk missile used exclusively by U.S. forces directly struck the school. The school was adjacent to an IRGC) base, raising serious concerns that U.S. forces either relied on outdated intelligence or failed to take necessary precautions to avoid civilian harm. Either way, international humanitarian law was violated.

Calling it a “mistake” does not bring the children back. It does not heal the agonies of the families who identified their loved ones not by their faces, but by their clothing, their fingernails, or the shape of their eyes.

The war without end: The Minab massacre was just the beginning. Since February, the United States has continued to threaten and strike Iran. On June 21, Trump warned that America would "hit Iran very hard again" if Tehran did not curb its allies in Lebanon. Trump framed Lebanon as

a brotherly nation to Iran and a central pillar in ongoing MOU and peace deal negotiations, though Israel is trying to sabotage the negotiations. The threat came while Vice President Vance was attending talks with Iranian officials in Switzerland. The Iranian delegation walked out in

protest.

Just days earlier, Trump had retracted a threat to bomb Iran for a third consecutive night and seize Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub. The pattern is clear: threaten, negotiate, threaten again.

Amidst the heat of the illegal war on Iran, Trump threatened on April 7 that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” To many around the world, it sounds like a joke. He comes across as a madman, mentally unstable, and psychologically unfit for such serious responsibilities.

Yet even as the White House continues its military posturing, the U.S. Senate passed a war powers resolution on June 24, restricting Trump from launching further military operations against Iran without congressional approval. The resolution was passed by a narrow vote of 50 to 48. It was a symbolic rebuke, but it showed that even within America, there is growing unease about this war.

While Iranian officials have commemorated the Minab victims at the United Nations in Geneva, the international response has been largely silent. Iran’s mission to the UN called the loss of 168 students “168 stolen futures, 168 silenced dreams, and an enduring wound carried by families, a community, and a nation.”

The silence is deafening

Iranian football players have worn pins with “#168” on their blazers at the World Cup. Fans have displayed banners in the stands. A handwritten note was left in the team’s dressing room in Los Angeles, reading: “From the ancient Persia thousands of years ago to the civilized Iran of today,

the spirit of Iran remains alive and steadfast.”

But gestures alone are not enough. The world must hold the perpetrators accountable.

A call for justice

The attack on Minab was not an accident of war. It was a preventable tragedy that claimed the lives of innocent children. The United States cannot simply dismiss it as a “mistake” and move on.

As Amnesty International has stated, those responsible for planning and executing this unlawful attack must be held accountable. The victims and their families have the right to truth and justice.

We remember the children of Minab. We remember their stolen futures. And we demand that the world stop looking away. Their names must never fade from our conscience.