Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei claimed on Friday that a school at Niloufar Square in Tehran was struck, posting footage on social media showing destroyed classrooms. The claim has not been independently verified. No international media organisations or monitoring bodies have confirmed the strike, and independent access to Tehran under active bombardment does not currently exist.
The claim arrives alongside UNICEF's confirmed count of 181 children killed at school sites — a figure built on verifiable evidence including NPR satellite imagery of the Minab school. If the Niloufar Square claim is accurate, the number of school sites struck in this conflict rises to at least seven. But Iranian government assertions during wartime require the same evidentiary rigour applied to any belligerent's claims. Tehran has both motive and precedent for publicising civilian harm to build domestic solidarity and international pressure — a practice well-established during the Iran-Iraq War, when the government extensively documented and broadcast Iraqi chemical and missile attacks on Iranian cities. That history does not make this claim false. It means the claim stands unconfirmed until journalists or monitors can independently reach the site, examine the debris, and verify the footage's location and timing. In a conflict where the IDF struck a military academy building during a live Iranian state broadcast on the same day, strikes on civilian infrastructure in Tehran are not implausible — but plausibility is not evidence.
