UN calls for investigation into deadly strike on school in Iran

By Emma Farge

GENEVA, March ‌3 (Reuters) - The ​U.N. ​human rights office on Tuesday urged what it called the forces behind a deadly attack on ‌a girls' school in Iran to investigate and ⁠share insights into the incident, without saying who it believed was ‌responsible.

"The High Commissioner (Volker Turk) calls ‌for a prompt, impartial and thorough investigation into the circumstances of the attack. The onus is on the ​forces that carried out the attack to investigate it," U.N. human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told ⁠a Geneva press briefing.

"This is absolutely horrific," Shamdasani said, adding that images circulating ​on social media captured "the essence of the destruction, despair and senselessness and cruelty of this conflict".

Turk ​also urged all parties to exercise ‌restraint and to return to the negotiating table, she said.

The school in southern Iran was ⁠hit on Saturday, the first day of U.S. and Israeli attacks against the country. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said ⁠on Monday that U.S. forces "would not deliberately target a school". Israel has ​said it is investigating the incident.

Iran's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva Ali Bahreini had previously raised the issue with Turk in ‌a letter dated March 1, calling the attack "unjustifiable" and "criminal".

He said the attack had killed 150 ‌students.

Turk's office does not have enough information to make ⁠a determination as to ‌whether the strike constituted ​a war crime, Shamdasani said.

(Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Ludwig Burger, Linda Pasquini and Aidan ‌Lewis)

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