LAST UPDATE | 1 Mar

THE DEATH TOLL from a missile strike on a girls’ school in southern Iran has risen to almost 150, according to Iranian state media.

Mizan news agency, the official news outlet of Iran’s judiciary, reported that the number killed in Saturday’s strike on a girls’ elementary school in Minab in southern Iran had risen to 148 killed, with 95 others wounded.

The news agency cited Ebrahim Taheri, a prosecutor in Minab.

The missile attack occurred as the US and Israel launched a barrage of air strikes across Iran.

The Iranian Red Crescent has earlier said the death toll from the strike on a school in southern Iran had risen to 108.

A spokesperson for the organisation said rescue teams were still working at the scene.

“The number of student martyrs at Minab School has reached 108, and relief and debris removal operations are still ongoing,” the spokesperson said.

Dozens more pupils are still believed to be missing.

A school bag at the site of the bombing yesterday. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Hossein Kermanpour, spokesperson for Iran’s health ministry, described the bombing as “the most bitter news” of the conflict so far in a post on X, adding: “God knows how many more children’s bodies they will pull from under the rubble.”

The school is understood to be located roughly 600 metres from a Revolutionary Guards barracks.

If the death toll is confirmed, it would mark the deadliest single incident of the US-led campaign to date.

Israel’s military said that it was “not aware” of any US or Israeli strike on a school in Iran.

“At this point not aware of an Israeli or an American strike there… We’re operating in an extremely accurate manner,” military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters at a briefing in response to questions about the strike today.

The Pentagon did not provide an immediate response, though a spokesperson for US Central Command told The New York Times: “We are aware of reports concerning civilian harm resulting from ongoing military operations. We take these reports seriously and are looking into them.

“The protection of civilians is of utmost importance, and we will continue to take all precautions available to minimise the risk of unintended harm.”

Rescue teams of Iranian Red Crescent, joined by local citizens, are working to pull victims from the rubble of the school. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned the strike, calling it “another black page in the record of countless crimes committed by the aggressors”.

On Saturday evening, the Iranian Red Crescent said at least 201 people had been killed and 747 injured in the broader wave of attacks.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was also confirmed dead by Iranian State media late last night.

The country’s state television has announced a 40-day mourning period and seven public holidays following the death of Khamenei, who had been in power since 1989.

Additional reporting by Andrew Walsh