Organized by Iran’s Department of Environment and Tehran Municipality, the event highlighted the destruction of childhood in conflict zones, with particular attention to the February 28 US strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab, southern Iran, which killed 168 children and teachers.
The event was held alongside a conference titled “Ecocide: The Silent War Crime,” linking the protection of children with the wider consequences of military attacks on civilian life and the environment.
Arman Khorsand, head of the Department of Environment’s Center for International Affairs and Conventions, said the gathering was organized in solidarity with children in Gaza and Minab, where families have suffered the loss of their children in attacks.
Khorsand said the event aimed to commemorate the victims, condemn those responsible and strengthen international solidarity to prevent similar crimes or increase the costs for those who commit them.
He also criticized the United States’ record of military interventions, citing Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, while condemning the Israeli regime for committing crimes against children, civilians and the environment in Palestine, Lebanon and the occupied West Bank.
During the ceremony, children flew kites bearing images and symbols representing Iranian and Palestinian children. One kite commemorating both Gaza and Minab was signed by the head of the Department of Environment and family members of two Minab victims.
Other kites depicted an Iranian girl and a Palestinian girl facing each other, as well as a house symbolizing children’s right to safe shelter. Organizers used the images to emphasize that children should be able to attend school, play and grow up without fear of bombardment or displacement.
The event also called attention to the environmental damage caused by war, including the destruction of habitats and the contamination of the natural environment.
The tragedy in Minab has also drawn international scrutiny. On February 28, a strike hit Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School while children were attending classes. The attack killed at least 168 people, including around 123 children.
On September 17, the United Nations’ Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran said it had found “reasonable grounds” to believe that the United States committed the war crime of launching an indiscriminate attack resulting in civilian deaths, injuries or damage to civilian objects. The findings placed renewed international scrutiny on the US military operation and the failure to protect children at the school.
For the families of Minab, however, the consequences are irreversible: children who should have been in classrooms were killed, leaving families to mourn lives cut short and futures destroyed. The Tehran kite event sought to keep their memory alive and demand accountability for the attack.