MINAB – Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs says Tehran is pursuing legal action over the American strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab, with documentation completed and a special committee formed to file lawsuits in foreign courts.
Kazem Gharibabadi made the remarks on Sunday during a visit to the school site and in meetings with the families of the victims, stressing that legal follow-up is underway at both the domestic and international levels.
“The martyrdom of 168 people — mostly schoolchildren, along with a number of parents and teachers — is a great tragedy for the families, the people of Minab and all of Iran, and we share in the grief and suffering of these families,” Gharibabadi said.
He said schools, academic and educational centers and hospitals are protected under international humanitarian law during armed conflicts, adding that attacks on such sites constitute a serious violation of those rules.
Gharibabadi said the documentation of the incident has been collected inside the country and that the judicial case will be heard after completing the necessary procedures. He added that relevant bodies are preparing dossiers for filing claims abroad.
“A special committee with the participation of relevant agencies has been formed in Tehran to follow up on this crime, and the documentation received from the judicial system will form the basis for legal action to file lawsuits in several countries,” he said.
He noted that the Foreign Ministry, the Legal Vice Presidency and other responsible bodies are deploying their capacities for the legal, political and diplomatic pursuit of the case, adding that the President has emphasized the need to follow up on the crimes committed.
“The families of the martyrs of the Shajareh Tayyebeh school must witness justice being served,” Gharibabadi said. “The follow-up of this case will not be limited to inside the country, and we will use international legal capacities to hold the perpetrators accountable.”
Referring to other cases related to attacks carried out during the war, including the strike on the Lamerd stadium, Gharibabadi said their legal pursuit is also on the agenda and efforts are underway to pursue the responsibility of the perpetrators in competent authorities.
He also praised the role of the people of Hormozgan in defending the country and stressed support for the martyrs’ families and continued pursuit of their legal demands, saying the Foreign Ministry will use its full capacity to help ensure accountability and justice.
On the Strait of Hormuz, Gharibabadi said the waterway has become a symbol of Iranian identity and that Iran will use its capacities to confront enemies. Stressing that Iran was not the initiator of the war, he said the country is defending itself against aggression, has not started a war in the past two centuries, but has stood against aggressors.
He also warned that Iran’s response in what he described as the 40-day war differed from that in the 12-day war, cautioning that in the event of renewed military action by the enemy, the Islamic Republic’s reaction will be different from the past, and expressed hope that the other sides will act rationally to avoid a repeat of the confrontation.
In the early hours of Feb. 28, 2026 — the first hours of what Tehran describes as the joint US-Israeli aggression against Iran — the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab was hit three times at intervals by missiles. In the incident, 168 people, including schoolgirls and schoolboys, as well as teachers, school staff and parents, were killed.
In a separate incident, five people, including a child, were killed and 68 others, mostly women and children, were injured in a US airstrike late on Sept. 1, 2026, on a residential house in the port of Kuhestak in Sirik County, where people were attending a wedding ceremony. Kuhestak is located in Sirik County in southeastern Hormozgan Province.
Minab, the second most populous county in Hormozgan Province with a population of over 300,000, is located 90 kilometers east of Bandar Abbas.
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