“The principle of proportionality and the principle of taking necessary precautions to protect civilians are not principles that can be set aside under any circumstances,” Nasser Seraj said on Saturday, speaking at a ceremony commemorating victims of terrorism.
“No political ideal, no geopolitical dispute, and no military objective should destroy the dignity and security of children’s lives,” he added.
On the first day of the US–Israeli war of aggression against Iran on February 28, the Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school in the southern Iranian city of Minab was targeted in a US missile strike, killing at least 175 people, including 168 schoolgirls.
Seraj said thousands of Iranians, including children, women, men, and elderly people, as well as ordinary citizens, officials, scientists, military and law-enforcement personnel, clerics, workers, and students, have lost their lives in terrorist operations.
He said terrorism affects not only those killed but also their families and communities, with its consequences sometimes lasting for generations.
Seraj censured double standards in the international response to terrorism, saying that attacks against Iranian citizens sometimes face silence, justification, or “political narrative-building.”
“If human rights are universal, their observance must also be universal,” he said, stressing that the value of a child’s life should not depend on nationality.
On state terrorism and military operations, Seraj argued, “The fight against terrorism should not be directed solely at non-state groups. The international community must take a unified position against any organized use of violence against civilians, regardless of the identity of the perpetrators.”
He called for investigations into attacks on civilians and accountability for those responsible, emphasizing that support for victims should extend beyond symbolic sympathy to legal, psychological, economic, and social assistance.
“Human lives are not politically negotiable,” Seraj said, adding that terrorism must be condemned “wherever and by whomever” it is committed.
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Aug. 22, 2026, 1:06 p.m.
News ID: 86242150
Tehran, IRNA – Secretary of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights says no political objective, geopolitical dispute, or military goal can justify killing children, referring to the deadly US–Israeli attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab.