The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is set to hold an emergency closed door meeting on Friday to address the recent U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on civilian sites in Iran, attacks that have sparked global outrage and raised serious questions about violations of international law, according to Mehr News Agency.
The session, requested by Russia, will take place Friday morning New York time. All fifteen members of the Security Council are expected to attend. The meeting follows a formal letter from Amir‑Saeid Iravani, Iran’s ambassador to the UN, who urged the Council and Secretary‑General to respond to what he described as “heinous crimes” against civilians.
In the letter, Iravani detailed the bombing of Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, a southern city in Iran’s Hormozgan province. The school was reportedly reduced to rubble on February 28, the first day of the U.S.‑Israeli military campaign against Iran. According to Iranian officials, more than 170 schoolgirls were killed, their bodies recovered only after hours of frantic rescue efforts.
Similar airstrikes struck other towns east of Tehran and the city of Abyek in Qazvin province on the same day, leaving more students dead and several others injured. Iranian authorities have called the strikes “deliberate” attacks on educational and civilian infrastructure, accusing the United States of committing war crimes.
Under international humanitarian law, targeting schools, hospitals, or other civilian buildings is explicitly forbidden. “The intentional attack on a school cannot be justified under any circumstance,” Iravani stated, calling for the perpetrators to be held accountable.
While Washington has launched an internal investigation, initial reports from American media have already suggested U.S. military involvement in the strikes. The White House has yet to issue a detailed comment.
Diplomats say Friday’s UNSC meeting could prove tense, as Russia and China are expected to push for a strong condemnation, while Western nations may attempt to soften the language. Regardless of outcome, the tragedy in Minab, the deaths of more than a hundred innocent schoolchildren, has cast a long shadow over global conscience, standing as one of the darkest moments of modern conflict in West Asia.
