Iranian media and officials are reporting that ajoint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iranstruck a girls' primary school in the southern part of the country, killing 85 people.
The IRNA news agency said the majority of the casualties are children at the Shajareh Tayyebeh all-girls' school in Minab. Dozens more are unaccounted for, the state-run news agency said.
A local Iranian prosecutor was quoted in the IRNA report. Reuters could not independently confirm the reports. US and Israeli military forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According toPresident Donald Trump, the United States joined Israel inlaunching military strikes, as well as "major combat operations," to target Iran's missile capabilities.
"Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people," Trump said, calling the strikes "a massive and ongoing operation."
While much remains unclear regarding the overall impact of the strikes, Reuters reported, citing state media, at least 40 people died due to the strike on the girls' school in Minab in southern Iran. Separately, state news agency IRNA reported one student was killed and two others injured in an airstrike on a school in Abyek, located in northwest Iran.
Dozens killed at girls' school in Iran amid US-Israeli strikes, state media reports
What is Shajareh Tayyebeh?
Shajareh Tayyebeh is an all-girls' school located in the southern Iranian town of Minab. Minab is in Hormozgan Province, which is along the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic international shipping lane, according to theNew York Times.
Hossein Kermanpour, a spokesman for Iran's health ministry,shared an X post on Feb. 28, calling the majority of those killed at the school "young child martyrs."
"God knows how many more children will be pulled out of the rubble," he wrote in the social media post. "May God give their families strength and patience."
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When the strike hit, Shajareh Tayyebeh, described as an elementary school, washolding its first of multiple rotating school shifts, according to Hengaw, a Norway-based organization focusing on human rights violations in Iran. The group added that around 170 students are enrolled in the school's morning shift; however, it is unclear how many were in the building during the strike.
Israel shuts down its schools as Iran launches retaliatory missiles
Following the strikes on Saturday morning, Israel announced that it had shut down schools and workplaces, moved hospital patients to underground facilities and banned public gatherings, Reuters reported.
The move comes as Iran began launching retaliatory missiles at Israel, prompting Defence Minister Israel Katz to declare a state of emergency across the country, warning the public of Iranian missile and drone attacks, per Reuters.
So far, there have been few reports of damage or injuries from Iran's initial missile attacks. Israelis typically have access to bomb shelters and are warned to hurry to them by a nationwide alert system.
'I did not campaign for this,' Marjorie Taylor Greene says
In response to the reported deaths and decimation of Shajareh Tayyebeh, formerRep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who removed herself fromTrump's "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) movementlast year,shared an X post voicing her condemnationof what transpired at the girls' school.
"I did not campaign for this. I did not donate money for this. I did not vote for this, in elections or Congress. This is heartbreaking and tragic. And how many more innocent will die? What about our own military?"
Greene concludedher post saying, "This is not what we thought MAGA was supposed to be. Shame!"
This story was updated to add new information.
Reuters contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Iranian girls' school decimated, dozens killed. What we know
