85 Killed In Girls' School In Iran's Minab After US-Israel Strike

As many as 85 people, including children, died after a missile hit a girls' school in southern Iran on Saturday, during the US-Israel strikes on the country.

The missile hit the school in Minab in southern Iran's Hormozgan province. The city is home to a base of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

The death count in the strike kept rising through the day and, in the evening, the Iranian judiciary said the figure had touched 85, as reported by news agency AFP. 

"The number of martyrs at the girls' school in Minab has increased to 85," the judiciary's Mizan Online website quoted the area's prosecutor's office as saying.

Condemning the attack, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi said, "The destroyed building is a primary school for girls in the south of Iran. It was bombed in broad daylight, when packed with young pupils. Dozens of innocent children have been murdered at this site alone. These crimes against the Iranian People will not go unanswered."

The strikes, termed pre-emptive by the US and Israel, began on Saturday morning and several areas were targeted, including Tehran.

"Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were among the targets of the attack," Israeli media reported, citing sources. 

Confirming the Israeli strikes on Iran, dubbed Operation Lion's Roar, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tehran had invested enormous resources to "develop atomic bombs and tens of thousands of missiles intended to erase Israel from the map of the world".

Claiming that Iran was rebuilding its nuclear and missile capabilities, Netanyahu said the strikes, in conjunction with the United States, were aimed at "allowing the brave Iranian people to cast off the yoke of the murderous regime" led by Khamenei.

Iran, which launched attacks on US assets in several countries, including Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain, and also launched missiles at Israel, said it would respond to the strikes firmly.

"Our sacred and beloved homeland, proud Iran, a civilisation-building nation, has once again been subjected to criminal military aggression by the United States and the Zionist regime," the Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement.