Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
Tánaiste Simon Harris in Paris today Alamy Stock Photo
United States
Italian PM condemns 'massacre' at Iranian school, Harris says focus should be on 'de-escalation'
The strike on the girls’ primary school in the south-east of Iran on 28 February killed more than 170 people, most of them children.
WITH MORE EVIDENCE emerging that points to US responsibility for the bombing of a school in Iran on the first day of the ongoing war, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has condemned the attack and called for those responsible to be identified.
Tánaiste Simon Harris, however, struck a less forceful tone when asked about the massacre, insisting the priority should be the “de-escalation” of the conflict and adding that the Iranian government “targets its own citizens”.
The strike on the girls’ primary school in the south-east of Iran on 28 February killed more than 170 people, most of them children, according to Iranian authorities.
Although US President Donald Trump has claimed Iran was responsible for the strike, The New York Times today reported that an initial inquiry found the US military was to blame. That preliminary assessment by the US military has indicated the school was mistakenly targeted due to outdated information.
The report adds to video and photo analyses by media outlets that showed it was likely an American Tomahawk missile that struck the school.
“I express my firm condemnation of the massacre of girls at the school in Minab, southern Iran,” Meloni said today.
She offered her solidarity to the families of the “very young victims” and said she wanted “responsibility for this tragedy be swiftly ascertained”.
Meloni, the leader of the right-wing, nationalist Brothers of Italy party, enjoys a friendly relationship with the US president, which has seen her be dubbed the European Union’s “Trump whisperer”.
Asked by The Journal about Meloni’s condemnation, Harris responded by saying:
“I think the most important thing right now is to see a de-escalation and to see an end to conflict.”
He added that “we have to be very careful that we never become numb to the realities of war, death, injury, trauma, the tinder box that can be lit”.
“The Iranian regime is a brutal, repressive regime that targets its own people and targets women. And you know, it is the opposite of a bastion of freedom, and it’s despicable and how it carries out its actions,” he said.
“But the loss of any child’s life is also deeply, deeply concerning and upsetting.”
Asked if he would be in favour of an independent investigation into the school bombing, Harris said: “People can decide to investigate things, there are international structures there. But I think the priority right now has to be de-escalation.”
He said that the sooner the conflict ends, “the better it is for all”, both economically and “from a huminity point of view”.
With reporting from Emma Hickey in Paris and AFP
Need more clarity and context on what is happening in the Middle East? Check out our FactCheck Knowledge Bank for essential reads and guides to finding good information online.
have your say