Tehran — Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International and former UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, delivered one of the strongest public assessments to date regarding the February 28 strike on a girls’ school in Minab in southern Iran in the wake of the joint U.S.-Israeli military aggression.
Her remarks, based on Amnesty’s preliminary investigation, point directly toward U.S. responsibility for the attack that killed nearly 170 students and staff.
Speaking in an interview, Callamard said Amnesty’s findings “thus far are pointing to the U.S.,” adding that major media outlets and other human rights organizations had reached similar conclusions. “There is little question that the school was targeted by the U.S.,” she stated, calling the incident “an absolute violation of international law.”
The strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh school occurred during the opening hours of coordinated U.S. and Israeli military operations across Iran. No evidence has emerged suggesting the school was being used for military purposes.
Callamard emphasized that the attack fits a broader pattern of civilian harm during the current conflict. “It is a war against civilians, against children, against adults going about their business,” she said. “It is targeting civilian infrastructures. People, civilians, are paying the highest price of what’s happening right now.”
International humanitarian law prohibits deliberate or reckless attacks on civilian objects, including schools. Legal experts note the scale of civilian casualties in Minab would raise serious concerns about proportionality and failure to take precautions.
Human Rights Watch and several independent analysts have also reported that the available evidence is consistent with a U.S.launched missile strike, citing the timing, munition fragments recovered at the site, and the pattern of impacts. U.S. officials have not publicly acknowledged involvement and have not commented on the findings.
Callamard urged an independent investigation. “This is why we have international law,” she said. “To prevent exactly this kind of attack on civilians.”
The Minab strike has intensified global scrutiny of U.S. conduct in the conflict, raising questions about adherence to international legal obligations and the adequacy of safeguards intended to protect civilians during military operations.
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