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Grief lingers at cemetery where Iranian schoolgirls killed in missile strike are buried

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Grief lingers at cemetery where Iranian schoolgirls killed in missile strike are buried

2026-05-26 22:10 Last Updated At:05-27 00:27

In Iran's city of Minab, families are still grieving months after a missile strike killed at least 175 people at a girls' elementary school on Feb. 28.

The attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Girls' School in Iran's southern province of Hormozgan was widely reported to be caused by a U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile. With a U.S. military investigation into the strike still ongoing, Washington has yet to take responsibility.

In Minab, the city's cemetery has become the resting place for the victims, most of them were schoolgirls.

Families are still mourning, and the city remains tense.

"I am Hamid Sadeghi, the father of Hami Sadeghi and the husband of Neda Solhizadeh. My wife was a fifth grade girls' teacher, and my son was in the fifth grade. My daughter was trapped under the rubble but survived. She has not come here during these 80 days because she cannot bear this atmosphere. Physically she is better, but psychologically she is still receiving counseling. She has nightmares and constantly feels as if a missile is coming," said Hamid Sadeghi, who lost his wife and son in the strike.

Some families said they lost the only child they had.

"We come here every night because he was everything to us. Reza was born after 12 years of trying, and he was a gift from Imam Reza. He passed away at the age of eight," said Ameneh Bayat, the mother of a young victim.

"I come here every day. Since the first day, I have come every day. I come both in the morning and in the afternoon. I have to come. The longing is too much," said the mother of another victim.

Many said the hardest moments are when they return home.

"I can't go somewhere where Fatemeh isn't. Without Fatemeh, I can't go home. Without Fatemeh and the sound of her voice, a house is no longer a home," said Masoume Farahizade, the mother of another victim.

Grief lingers at cemetery where Iranian schoolgirls killed in missile strike are buried

Grief lingers at cemetery where Iranian schoolgirls killed in missile strike are buried

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Tuesday its air defense forces have shot down an MQ-9 Reaper drone in the country's airspace.

In a statement posted on its official news outlet Sepah News, the IRGC warned that it reserves the "legitimate and definitive" right to respond to any violation of the ceasefire reached last month between Tehran and Washington by the "aggressive" U.S. army.

The IRGC said its air defense forces have also detected and tracked an RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance aircraft and an invading F-35 fighter jet, "which had entered Iran's airspace in continuation of the terrorist U.S. army's interventionist adventurism in the region and aggressive behaviors," and forced them to flee by shooting at them.

Although the IRGC did not disclose the date of the clashes, its statement came one day after the U.S. Central Command said its military had struck missile launch sites and mine-laying boats in southern Iran on Monday.

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported several explosions Monday night in the country's southern port city of Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan province, adding that similar sounds were heard concurrently in the Gulf near the counties of Sirik and Jask in the same province.

Iran and the United States reached a ceasefire on April 8 after 40 days of fighting. Following the truce, they held one round of peace talks in Islamabad on April 11 and 12, which failed to yield an agreement.

Over the past weeks, the two sides reportedly exchanged several proposed plans outlining conditions for peace through Pakistan's mediation.

Iran's IRGC says shot down U.S. MQ-9 Reaper in Iranian airspace

Iran's IRGC says shot down U.S. MQ-9 Reaper in Iranian airspace

Iran's IRGC says shot down U.S. MQ-9 Reaper in Iranian airspace

Iran's IRGC says shot down U.S. MQ-9 Reaper in Iranian airspace

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