New Delhi: The Iranian Embassy in New Delhi has opened an exhibition titled Angels of Minab, featuring children’s drawings salvaged from the rubble of a girls’ elementary school in Minab, destroyed on 28 February in early US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
The attack killed more than 165 children and staff. Reports indicate a US Tomahawk missile hit the site near an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval base. US assessments later confirmed responsibility, citing a targeting error rather than deliberate intent.
The display aims to spotlight the conflict’s toll on civilians, portraying the artwork as symbols of a shattered world of hope. In an X post, the Embassy noted: “These are drawings that have been brought out from beneath the rubble of a school in Minab. A school that was destroyed following a military attack by the US and the Zionist regime. Pages that were recovered through the efforts of Red Crescent rescue teams, and have been restored only to the extent that they can be seen. The world depicted in them is still simple, bright, and trustworthy. But the world outside did not remain so. Children, in no war, should be victims; yet in every war, many worlds collapse with their extinguishing.”
The school stood less than 100 yards from an IRGC base but was separated by a wall and repurposed solely for education since 2013–2016, per satellite imagery and records. US officials described the strike as unintended misidentification.
The exhibition ties into Iran’s messaging post the collapse of US peace talks in Islamabad. On Saturday, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf flew to Islamabad with a poignant display aboard his aircraft: empty seats adorned with victims’ photos, backpacks, and roses. He captioned an X image: “My companions on this flight, Minab 168” – referencing the 168 lives lost.
The Minab incident ranks among the conflict’s deadliest civilian tolls, predominantly children.
(Inputs from IANS)