The U.N. Human Rights Council held an emergency debate on Friday to discuss a fatal strike on a primary school in Iran, where more than 175 children and teachers were reportedly killed.
This incident was brought up by Iran at the Geneva council meeting, following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes that began nearly a month-long regional war.
U.N. Human Rights chief Volker Turk urged Washington to conclude its investigation into the attack as soon as possible and publish the results.
Israel’s diplomatic mission criticized Iran for attacks on civilians across the region, calling the debate a charade and an abuse of the UN Human Rights Council.
The U.S. mission referred questions about the incident and investigations status to the State Department, which did not immediately respond.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi condemned the atrocity, stating it cannot be justified or concealed and must not be met with silence and indifference.
Pakistan’s ambassador Bilal Ahmad expressed shock over the death of school children, while China’s Jia Guide called it a breach of human morality and contempt for international humanitarian law (IHL).
Several countries, including Britain, condemned Iran’s own human rights violations during mass protests in January and its retaliatory strikes since the war began on February 28.
Brazil’s ambassador Tovar da Silva Nunes expressed regret that there had been no holistic debate on violations during the regional war, echoing concerns by rights groups about selective outrage.