Iran: The death of Neda Amini Azar and the Minab school bombing

School teacher Neda Amini Azar and students.

1. Drone warfare

War is hell. Always was; always will be.....

On 28 February 2026 at 10.45am a girls' school in Minab, Iran, was partially destroyed in the initial U.S. - Israeli attack on Iran. More than 170 people were reportedly killed, described as mostly young girls and teachers. Minab is located on the west coast near the Strait of Hormuz. The school is located on the corner of a Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) base and had formerly been used by the IRGC Navy.

On 5 March 2026, Iranian school teacher Neda Amini Azar was injured as a result of a nearby explosion whilst driving along the Shahid Kasaei highway to school in Tabiz, Iran. She died of her injuries in hospital on 12 March 2026. Tabiz is located in northeastern Iran, near the Azerbaijan border and slightly northwest of the capital of Tehran.

These two stories were conflated on a number of social media sites around the subject of "The last image of Neda Amini Azar" from the time of the latter's death.

Both events are tragedies in which it appears that innocent lives were lost as a result of the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, commencing on 28 February 2026. Both countries have denied either carrying out strikes in Minab on that date (Israel) or targeting schools (the United States).

The term applied to such tragic events is usually collateral damage, and they are becoming increasingly common in the modern era of warfare as it is carried out substantially by drones and ballistic missiles, rather than boots on the ground.

The school was formerly used by the IRGC Navy and it appears the US was unaware of this change of usage since around 2016. Tomahawk missiles were apparently sent to the area and the school was partially destroyed as a result (Melimopoulos 2026). The precise details around this episode are sketchy, with information mainly coming of official Iranian media. The US is largely mute, saying that investigations are being carried out, though some of their media is openly blaming US forces.

The precise circumstances surrounding the highway bombing resulting in the death of school teacher Neda Amini Azar are not known. Details of both incidents are outlined below, along with links to more detailed descriptions, where available.

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2. Death of a school teacher

Pictures were posted on social media during March 2026 of "the last image" of Iranian school teacher Neda Amini Azar who died during the Iran conflict. One of the iranpress_eng Iran state-controlled media and Iran Press TV captions to the image stated:

A dedicated teacher from northwestern Iran, was severely injured by the blast from a U.S. - Israeli airstrike in Tabriz passing near Shahid Kasayi Highway. After days of fighting for her life, she was martyred on Thursday. US - Israeli regimes have attacked many schools across Iran, murdering 100s of children and teachers.

According to one report, she was injured on 4th March and died on 11 March (Mohammed 2026).

A third report on Instagram, from Hengaw, stated:

Neda Amini Azar, a teacher from Tabriz, died on Thursday, March 12, after succumbing to injuries she sustained during Israeli and U.S. airstrikes targeting military and security sites in the city, according to information obtained by Hengaw. Amini Azar had been injured a week earlier, on Thursday, March 5, while passing along Shahid Kasaei Highway in Tabriz, when she was caught in the blast wave from the explosions and was subsequently transferred to a medical center.

This is a tragedy, as is the death of any innocent civilian in a war-like situation such as is found in Iran, in Gaza, and elsewhere around the world in 2026.

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3. Minab school bombing

On 28 February 2026 a U.S. - Israeli attack on Iran resulted in the destruction of a girls school in Minab, and the death of a large number of students and teachers. Accounts vary as to the precise numbers, though it is stated that the school has 170 students, of which 148 were killed along with 14 teachers (European-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor 2026, Yekrangi 2026). An detailed account of the bombing of the school and associated Iranian Revolutionary Guard complex is to be found in the al-Jazeera article of 12 March 2026 by Elizabeth Melimopoulos, entitled Who bombed the Iranian girls' school, killing more than 170? What we know. On that same day, PBS NewsHour in the US released the following video on the bombing, clearly indicating American involvement:

A look at evidence linking the United States to the Iranian school bombing, PBS NewsHour, 12 March 2026, YouTube, duration: 6.53 minutes.

As one Facebook commentator noted:

On February 28th, 168 innocent babies woke up for the day, made sure their homework was packed away in their backpacks, kissed and hugged their parents goodbye, and headed to class at Shajareh Tayyebeh girls' elementary school in Minab, Iran. A few short hours later, their school was hit by an American Tomahawk missile. The roof collapsed in on the students and faculty and then 40 minutes later, as first responders rushed to the scene to try to save those babies, the site was hit again by another American missile to maximize civilian casualties and damage. Sending my own kids off to school this morning and I cannot even imagine the pain and anguish of those parents who didn’t know it would be the last time they helped their babies rush out the door to get to school on time.The USraeli military is the most prolific terrorist organization on the planet (Pobjie 2026).

Rescue teams of the Iranian Red Crescent, joined by local citizens, working to pull victims from the rubble of a school destroyed in a U.S.-Israeli airstrike in Hormozgan province. Saturday, 28 February 2026. Source: Iranian Red Crescent/UPI.

Aerial view of the graves of the victims.

At this stage, it seems clear that the United States is responsible for the bombing, a tragic stuff up in regards to the school which should never have happened. An investigation by ABC News Australia published on 7 March 2026 revealed that the nearby military targets were hit, and that the school also suffered damage. It appears that the US believed in was still an IRGC Navy facility. Until detailed reports are made available, the truth will remain elusive, with accusations and denials flying around between all the parties involved.

Time magazine image of the Minab site, 2006.

ABC News Australia satellite image of the Minab site, 4 March 2026.

The satellite photographs above reveal the significant damage on the southern corner of the school building, with perhaps two thirds still standing. As the attack occurred during the early morning classes, this would have resulted in a significant loss of life. Unfortunately, as the European-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor noted on 1 March 2026:

Placing educational facilities within the scope of hostilities, whether by directly targeting them or exposing them to the risk of attack, reflects a serious erosion of respect for the rules protecting civilians. It undermines the core protection regime established under international humanitarian law for civilians and civilian objects.

Both the Iranian and US regimes can, to varying degrees, bear responsibility for this tragedy.

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References

A look at evidence linking the U.S. to the Iranian school bombing, PBS News Hour - Classroom, 12 March 2026.

Airstrike on girls’ school in Iran, killing scores of students, grave crime and collapse of civilian protection, European-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, 1 March 2026.

Brown, Gordon, Children killed, a school turned into a graveyard: even in wartime, we can't accept this, The Guardian, 12 March 2026.

Hunter, Molly, Tavleen Tarrant and Chantal da Silva, Video appears to show U.S. Tomahawk missile hitting the area of the deadly school strike in Iran, NBC News,10 March 2026.

Hussain, Amina, The Veil, Bomb and Liberation, maktoobmedia.com, 14 March 2026.

Khodadadi, Amin, Courtney Kube, Julie Tsirkin, Chantal Da Silva, Molly Hunter, Matthew Mulligan and Shira Pinson, The U.S. military was targeting an area near bombed Iranian school, sources say, NBC News, 7 March 2026.

Melimopoulos, Elizabeth, Who bombed the Iranian girls' school, killing more than 170? What we know, al-Jazeera News, 12 March 2026.

Mohammed, Anes, The last image of Neda Amini-Azar, Linkedin, 13 March 2026.

Neda Amini Azar, Hangaw English, Instagram, 15 March 2026.

Pearson, James and Ryan McNeill, Bombed Iranian girls school had vivid presence and years long online presence, Reuters, 13 March 2026.

Pobjie, David, The last image of Neda Amini Azar...., Facebook, 14 March 2026.

Taouk, Maryanne, Satellite image shows direct strike on military buildings next to Iranian school where children were killed, ABC News Australia, 7 March 2026.

Wikipedia, 2026 Minab School Attack, Wikipedia, accessed 15 March 2026.

Yekrangi, Ariana, How US and Israeli missiles obliterated a school full of 7-year-olds, UN-aligned, Helsinki, 4 March 2026.

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Last updated: 16 March 2026

Michael Organ, Australia

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Iran: The death of Neda Amini Azar and the Minab school bombing

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