AT LEAST 40 people were killed in a strike on a girls’ school in southern Iran, state media has reported.

Shajare Tayyebeh Elementary School is in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan near the strategic sea route of the Strait of Hormuz.

“The death toll from the Minab girls’ elementary school has reached 40,” state television said, adding that 45 more people were wounded in the alleged strike in Hormozgan province.

A provincial official said Israeli strikes hit the school, according to state media.

The reported deaths are the latest in the region after the United States and Israel began its attack on Iran this morning. Iran has retaliated and four deaths were reported in Syria as the result of an Iranian missile attack, with one further death reported in Abu Dhabi.

In a statement published on social media, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said it had “prepared for this with an operational plan developed over months”.

Related Reads

McEntee 'deeply concerned' at Iran attack as Irish citizens told not to travel to the Gulf region

'Bombs will be dropping everywhere': Trump confirms US has begun attack on Iran

“Thousands of hours of intensive intelligence work at Military Intelligence’s target factory, which succeeded in multiplying the number of targets by hundreds of percent, so that Israel is prepared to strike in Iran as much as required,” it said.

The IDF said the US and Israeli militaries had conducted “close and joint planning” in the months preceding the strike.