GENEVA — The images were unbearable.
A school reduced to rubble.
Classrooms torn apart.
Young lives lost.
On Tuesday, the United Nations human rights office described the attack on a girls’ school in southern Iran as “absolutely horrific” — and demanded answers.
“Prompt, Impartial and Thorough”
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk is calling for a full investigation into the deadly strike.
“The High Commissioner calls for a prompt, impartial and thorough investigation into the circumstances of the attack,” UN spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said during a press briefing in Geneva.
She did not name who was responsible.
But she made one thing clear:
“The onus is on the forces that carried out the attack to investigate it.”
In other words — those behind the strike must explain what happened.
Images of “Destruction and Despair”
Shamdasani said photos and videos circulating on social media captured the raw devastation.
They showed “the essence of the destruction, despair and senselessness and cruelty of this conflict.”
The school was hit on Saturday — the first day of US and Israeli military attacks against Iran.
For families in the area, it was supposed to be just another school day.
Instead, it turned into tragedy.
Conflicting Claims
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that American forces “would not deliberately target a school.”
Israel, for its part, has said it is investigating the incident.
Meanwhile, Iran’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, has called the strike “unjustifiable” and “criminal.”
In a letter dated March 1 to High Commissioner Türk, Bahreini said the attack killed 150 students.
A staggering claim.
One that, if confirmed, would mark one of the deadliest single incidents involving children in the conflict.
Was It a War Crime?
For now, the UN says it does not have enough verified information to determine whether the strike constitutes a war crime.
The facts are still being gathered.
The responsibility, still contested.
Türk has urged all sides to step back — to exercise restraint — and to return to negotiations before more lives are shattered.
Because beyond the politics and military statements are classrooms that should have been filled with lessons and laughter.
Instead, they are filled with silence.
And grief.
