UN rights chief says Iran school bombing ‘evoked visceral horror,’ urges protection of educational facilities

ISTANBUL

The UN human rights chief said on Friday that a deadly strike on an elementary school in Iran “evoked visceral horror,” calling on all countries to take urgent steps to protect schools and civilians in conflict.

“The bombing of Shajareh Tayyebeh girls' elementary school in Minab evoked a visceral horror,” said Volker Turk, referring to an airstrike on Feb. 28, the first day of the current conflict, which US Defense Department analysts said was most likely the result of a US attack. The attack killed some 170 people, the vast majority of them schoolgirls.

“The images of bombed-out classrooms and grieving parents showed clearly who pays the highest price for war, civilians with no power in the decisions that led to conflict,” he said at the start of an urgent debate in the UN Human Rights Council.

Turk stressed that “whatever differences countries have, we can all agree they will not be solved by killing school children,” underscoring the need to uphold international humanitarian law.

“I call on all countries to take urgent steps to protect educational facilities and those who study and work in them,” he said.

Warning of a widening conflict, Turk said: “The military escalation in the Middle East and the Gulf is reaching dangerous levels. It must end. There is a high and rising risk of further contagion and increased civilian suffering in the countries directly involved beyond the region.”

“I call on the United States and Israel to end their attacks against Iran, and I call on Iran to stop attacking its neighbors and to respect and protect the human rights of its own people,” he added.

Urging restraint, he said: “I urge all states to prioritize preventing further suffering, protecting all civilians, regardless of nationality or location, and seeking long term sustainable peace.”

He further cautioned against continued military escalation, saying: “Bombs and missiles are not the path towards sustainable peace. They bring death, destruction, and misery.”