28 February 2026. When the US and Israel launched their largest and deadliest joint attack on Iran under ‘Operation Epic Fury’, their goal was clear – the elimination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei was killed in this attack. From a strategic and military perspective, it was considered a ‘historic victory’ in Washington and Tel Aviv. Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu presented this to the world as a major achievement.
But within a few hours this ‘victory’ turned into a strategic and diplomatic nightmare, which not only isolated America and Israel in the whole world, but also established them in a ‘demon’ image. That mistake was not the assassination of Khamenei, but the mass murder of 165 innocent girls of ‘Shajareh Tayyebeh’ primary school in Minab city of southern Iran, who had nothing to do with this war.
That dreadful scene of Minab: When the school became a graveyard
On the morning of 28 February, when girls aged between 7 and 12 were studying in their classes, death rained from the sky. According to international news agencies and investigators (such as CNN and Al Jazeera), this was not a simple mistake or ‘collateral damage’. According to reports, several missiles were fired at this school one after the other (which is called ‘double tap’ or ‘triple tap’ in military language). In this attack, the roof of the school collapsed and more than 165 innocent girls, their teachers and some parents were buried under the debris.
The US President tried to explain it away by saying it was “the result of Iran’s own faulty missiles”. But independent investigations and pieces of the American ‘Tomahawk’ cruise missile found in the debris brought the truth to the world. The most frightening fact that came to light was that ‘Artificial Intelligence’ (AI) was allegedly used in selecting the targets of this attack, which destroyed a civilian school in a moment by mistaking it for a military base.
‘Demonic’ form exposed before the world and allies retreating
A large section of the world might have remained silent considering Khamenei’s assassination as a military or political action, but the Minab incident completely destroyed the moral foundation of America and Israel, which they often claim. This one incident changed the equations of global diplomacy overnight:
• Strong outrage from global organizations: United Nations (UN) human rights experts called it “a serious and unforgivable attack on children and education.” UNESCO called it a “gross violation of international humanitarian law”. Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai also condemned the attack, calling it a crime that can never be forgotten.
• Sidelining of well-wishers and allies: European countries (France, Germany, Britain) and Gulf nations (Saudi Arabia, UAE) which were initially silent on this attack or were giving indirect support, retreated as soon as the pictures of this massacre emerged. Pictures of blood-stained school bags and girls buried under debris created an uproar in domestic politics in Western countries as well. No global leader now wanted to be seen standing with ‘child murderers’.
Military victory versus diplomatic suicide: Why did victory elude us?
“The attack on a school and the killing of girls in their classrooms is the most vivid example of how war steals their future in one fell swoop.” —United Nations human rights expert
Trump and Netanyahu thought that the elimination of Khamenei would demoralize Iran and establish their undisputed dominance in the Middle East. But Minab’s incident overturned this entire discussion. This mass murder took anti-US-Israeli sentiments inside and outside Iran to such an extreme that the scope for any kind of peace talks or agreement was lost.
Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei now has the full and fierce support of his countrymen, which perhaps was not possible in peacetime. The citizens of Iran, who were opposing their own government, have also united in the wave of nationalism after this brutal murder of their daughters by foreign powers.
defeat of ego of superpowers
When historians evaluate this Iran war of 2026, they will see Khamenei’s death as only one incident. The main chapter will be about those innocent girls of Minab, whose mass murder exposed the cruelty of the modern war system to the world. This was a mistake that proved that when the machinery of war becomes blind, it is the first to swallow its own ‘victory’.
Today, America and Israel may have unlimited military power, but never before have they been so alone, isolated and stigmatized on the global stage. The screams rising from the debris of Minab’s school and the flouting of international law have become a permanent symbol of the biggest and shameful defeat of this so-called historic victory of Trump and Netanyahu.
[लेखक प्रेम कुमार वरिष्ठ पत्रकार हैं और सम-सामयिक लेखन के साथ ही टेलीविजन डिबेट्स में अपनी राय जोरदार तरीके से रखते आ रहे हैं]
