Iran: Nearly 150 killed following US and Israeli strike on school
Nearly 150 people have been killed in an explosion at a school in southern Iran after a US and Israeli attack on 28 February, a local prosecutor said.
Details: President Masoud Pezeshkian described the incident as a "barbaric act" and "another black page in the record of countless crimes committed by the aggressors".
The Iranian Red Crescent said that at least 201 people have been killed and 747 injured across the country as a result of the airstrikes.
An official stated that the school in the city of Minab, Hormozgan province, was "targeted by three missile attacks".
It is located approximately 600 metres from an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) base. The BBC verified footage of the aftermath of the explosion which shows smoke rising above the building, people gathered nearby and sounds of panic. However, the reported death toll cannot be independently confirmed at this stage.
Journalists also reviewed social media posts in which Iranians described the situation. One user opposed foreign military intervention in Iran and reported that dozens of girls had been killed at the school in the missile strike.
Others blamed the regime for the strike, adding that people have no shelters, internet access has been cut off, telephone lines are down and there was no warning not to send children to school.
Update: Later on Sunday 1 March, CNN reported, citing Ebrahim Taheri, a prosecutor in Minab, where the purported strike took place, that the death toll has risen to 148, with 95 people injured.
Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, international spokesperson for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), told journalists at a press conference on 1 March: "At this point, I am not aware of any Israeli or American strike on that location. I know both we and the Americans are checking."
Background: The US and Israeli armed forces carried out an unprecedented large-scale operation, dropping 30 aerial bombs on the residence of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei while the country's top leadership was there.
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