Iran says a girls’ school has been hit by a deadly airstrike. Here’s what we know.

Mourners gathered in the Iranian city of Minab on Tuesday for the funeral of the victims of what Iranian authorities say was an air strike on a school they blamed on Israel and the US.

Neither the US nor Israel claimed responsibility for the strike. A spokesman for the Israeli military told CBS News that they “have never had any contact with our operation.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Pentagon is investigating.

Iranian authorities say the explosion in Minab, in the province of Hormozgan in southern Iran, took place the first day of the war on Saturday and is the largest number of casualties reported so far in the conflict. Iranian health officials and state media say an estimated 175 people have died, most of them schoolgirls between the ages of 7 and 12.

Journalists from international news organizations did not have unrestricted access to the area to independently verify the charge or conditions. Iranian authorities must grant express permission to foreign media organizations wishing to report outside Tehran.

Here’s what we know so far:

Photos of the alleged incident

Pictures taken from the parking lot showed black smoke billowing from the damaged building decorated with graffiti depicting crayon drawings, children and an apple.

CBS News shared the clip from the building in Minab. Iranian media identified the building as Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School. Saturdays are normal school days in Iran.

CBS News also confirmed that the building was near two areas controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including the IRGC Seyyed Al-Shohada Barracks.

The Shahid Absalan clinic, under the supervision of the IRGC medical force, is located 780 meters from the site, Agence France-Presse reported.

AFP could not independently confirm the date the video from the parking lot was recorded.

Minab is conveniently located near The Strait of Hormuzwhich is one of the most important shipping routes in the world, especially for oil and gas.

What Iran says

Iranian state television and a local official identified the site as Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab.

Iran said more than 170 people were killed in what President Masoud Pezeshkian described as US-Israeli strikes on the school.

Pezeshkian said on social media that “attacks on schools are aimed at the future of the nation,” and said that the hospital was also attacked.

“Targeting patients and children clearly violates humanitarian principles,” he said. “The world must condemn that. I stand with my grieving nation. Iran will not be silent or agree to these crimes.”

According to state media, Iran on Tuesday held the funerals of at least 165 people, including students, who died in the alleged strike.

Hossein Kermanpour, a spokesman for Iran’s health ministry, said in an X-post that many of those who died at the school were “martyrs’ children.”

State television showed images of a crowd of mourners in Minab wailing over what appeared to be corpses wrapped in white clothes. Other photos released by state media on Tuesday show people preparing coffins draped in the Iranian flag — some with pictures of children.

A third clip also shared by state media shows a large crowd gathered in the same fields with the caption written in Persian: “Prayer service for the perished children of Minab.”

Another aerial photo showed diggers digging at least 100 graves in an unidentified mass burial site.

AFP could not independently confirm the date the photos were taken or reach the location to confirm the circumstances surrounding the events.

Pentagon investigation

When he was asked by BBC News on Wednesday about the incident that allegedly happened news conferenceDefense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon is investigating.

“All I can say is that we investigate, and we never target human victims,” ​​Hegseth said, without elaborating.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday said the United States would not target the school on purpose.

“The United States will not deliberately target the school. Our targets are missiles, both the ability to produce them and the ability to launch them,” he told the media.

Israel “does not know” about the strike in the area

Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani told CBS News that the IDF “has not found anything connected to our operations,” when asked about the alleged school strike.

Asked by CBS News’ Matt Gutman if he thought the school strike claim was misinformation from Iran, Shoshani said he suggested “caution when using information provided by a regime that is killing its own people.”

Shoshani also told reporters: “Right now he doesn’t know about an Israeli or American strike there. … We are working very precisely.”

“Ensure accountability”

The United Nations human rights chief, Volker Turk, is calling for an immediate, impartial and thorough investigation into the attack.

The spokeswoman for the UN human rights office Ravina Shamdasani said, “The burden is on the shoulders of the soldiers who attacked to investigate.”

Norway-based rights group Hengaw said it is seeking information about the victims. In a statement, the organization said that at the time of the incident, the Shajare Tayyebeh school was having its morning program and it was reported that there were about 170 students.

The rights group said the target of the strike was reportedly near IRGC facilities – a claim the news channel could not independently verify.

“The establishment and expansion of military bases near schools and public places puts citizens at great risk,” said Hengaw.