Two schools in Parand, Iran, were damaged in a U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign, with verified photos showing structural damage but no immediate reports of casualties. This incident follows a previous strike on a girls' school in Minab that resulted in numerous civilian deaths. The intended target of the latest strike is unclear, though the schools are located near a telecommunications infrastructure.
Main Topics Covered:
* Damage to civilian schools in Iran from U.S.-Israeli airstrikes.
* The context of civilian casualties and previous attacks in the campaign.
* Legal considerations regarding attacks on civilian infrastructure under international law.
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Two Schools in Iran Damaged in U.S.-Israeli Bombing
Photos show that both schools, southeast of Tehran, sustained damage. No injuries were reported.
Two more schools in Iran appeared to have been damaged on Thursday during the bombing campaign being conducted by the United States and Israel.
Photos of two boys’ schools, an elementary and a middle school southwest of the capital, show blown-out windows, as well as damaged and collapsed classroom walls. The photos were posted by an Iranian semiofficial news agency, Tasnim, and the exterior ones were verified by The New York Times.
There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries. The damage at these two schools was reported about a week after dozens were killed, many of them young children, when a girls’ school was hit in the southern Iranian town of Minab.
The two schools that were damaged on Thursday are in Parand, a city southwest of the Iranian capital. Not long after the strikes, an image of a large, gray smoke plume against a clear blue sky began appearing online. The Times verified that image as well and determined that the plume originated from the area where the two schools are located.
The Times has identified one of the schools as the Shahid Bahonar Middle School, a boys’ institution. Photos from the scene show the facade of the entrance heavily scarred, windows entirely missing and debris scattered around the front courtyard.
The other school, the Arian Pouya Elementary School for boys, is located just across the street, also sustained damage. While the structural integrity of the main building appears intact in footage, the school grounds are littered with debris.
The U.S. and Israeli militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
After the death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Iranian government announced a month of public mourning, closing all schools and universities for a week.
But the strike on the Minab girls’ school on the first day of U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, happened when school was still in session. It was the deadliest known episode of civilian casualties since the attacks began. Iranian health officials said it killed at least 175 people.
A Times visual analysis indicates that the girls’ school building was severely damaged by a precision strike amid U.S. attacks on a nearby naval base operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
The intended target of the strike in Parand on Thursday remains unclear. The schools are close to a telecommunications tower. Such towers have been frequent targets throughout the bombing campaign.
Intentional attacks on schools, hospitals and other civilian structures are considered war crimes. Even if schools are being used for military purposes, international law requires armed parties to avoid or minimize harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Christiaan Triebert is a Times reporter working on the Visual Investigations team, a group that combines traditional reporting with digital sleuthing and analysis of visual evidence to verify and source facts from around the world.
Parin Behrooz is an associate editor and writer for The New York Times.
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