- United States
- Mich.
- Letter
I am writing to demand accountability and a clear explanation regarding the strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh girls' elementary school in Minab, Iran, which killed 180 people, predominantly girls aged 7 to 12 years old, with an additional 96 children and staff injured. Multiple sources including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Iranian fact-checking organization Factnameh have verified footage from the aftermath against existing satellite imagery.
The school was destroyed on a Saturday morning, a working day in Iran. According to a school official interviewed by Time magazine, the attack occurred so quickly after strikes began that parents had not yet arrived to collect their children. A school official described finding girls' bodies in classrooms and corridors. These are not abstractions or collateral damage statistics. These were children sitting in their elementary school.
While the U.S. military claims to have launched an investigation, multiple U.S. officials have denied responsibility, and there has been no follow-up statement. Israel has provided no acknowledgment. This silence is unacceptable. If the United States or Israel targeted a nearby IRGC base, international humanitarian law still requires the protection of civilian life. UNESCO has stated that killing pupils in a place of learning constitutes a grave violation of the protections schools are afforded under international law.
I need you to demand a full, transparent investigation with public findings. I need you to push for accountability if U.S. or Israeli forces were responsible. And I need you to advocate for policies that prevent strikes on schools and civilian infrastructure, regardless of proximity to military assets.
The rhetoric about protecting children rings hollow when 180 girls lie dead in an elementary school and our government offers only silence or denial. I expect you to act with the same urgency you would if these children attended school in your district.