Urgent Warning from Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian

 

Exclusive Video: Strike Near Boys' School in Iran Captured on Camera – A Child's Life Cut Short

Security footage obtained by The New York Times reveals the terrifying moments an explosion ripped through a playground in Abyek, killing a young student. The intended target? A communications tower less than 400 feet away.

The morning of February 28 began like any other at the Imam Reza Elementary School for boys in Abyek, a quiet city in Iran's Qazvin Province, west of Tehran. Security camera footage shows approximately 40 children enjoying their break – some gathered in circles, others lingering near the soccer goal, a few wandering across the playground.

Just hours earlier, according to Iranian state media, the first joint Israeli and U.S. strikes had been launched against Iran. Yet schools remained open, and life, for these boys, continued its ordinary rhythm.

Then the footage captures something horrifying.

The Moment of Impact

At the top of the frame, where a communications tower stands on a hill overlooking the school, a massive explosion erupts. The blast wave rips through the immediate area, shattering school windows with devastating force.

Children scatter in panic. Some run with hands pressed desperately over their ears. Near the soccer goal post, a child collapses to the ground – seemingly struck by flying debris. Iranian semi-official news agency Tasnim later identified him as Mahyar Zanganeh, confirming the young boy did not survive.

The video remained virtually unseen for days until it was posted online Friday. The New York Times has since verified its authenticity through geolocation and analysis.

The Target: A Communications Tower Reduced to Rubble

Using before-and-after satellite imagery, visual investigators at The Times, alongside geolocation experts, have determined that the communications tower visible in the footage appeared to be the intended target of the strike. Standing less than 400 feet from where children were playing, the structure was completely destroyed – reduced to rubble in the aftermath of the explosion.

The proximity of the strike to an active school raises serious questions about adherence to international humanitarian law, which prohibits attacks that fail to distinguish between military objectives and civilian populations.

A Second Strike on a Girls' School

Tragically, the Abyek incident was not isolated. The same day, another explosion struck near a girls' school in Minab, a city in southern Iran. Reports indicate that 175 people – many of them children – lost their lives in that attack.

Videos verified by The Times show a Tomahawk cruise missile hitting a naval base operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps situated adjacent to the school. Significantly, the U.S. military remains the only force involved in the current conflict that deploys Tomahawk missiles.

Neither U.S. nor Israeli military officials have responded to requests for comment regarding either incident.

Teachers' Union Speaks Out Amid Internet Blackouts

The footage from Abyek was shared by the official channel of the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers' Unions – one of Iran's largest trade unions, despite some members having faced imprisonment by the Iranian government for their activism.

In a public statement, the union condemned the attack in the strongest terms, emphasizing that targeting schools and hospitals is "rejected under any circumstances." The statement stressed that such strikes "were not only a violation of fundamental humanitarian principles, but also a clear breach of international law and human rights conventions."

Contact with union members on the ground in Qazvin Province has proven challenging. Shiva Amelirad, an international representative for the union based in Toronto, explained: "We have active members in Qazvin Province and in the teachers' movement there. But unfortunately contact has not been possible yet, due to widespread internet disruptions across the country."

The Human Cost of Conflict

The verified footage from Abyek places a human face on the devastating consequences of modern warfare. While nations debate military strategies and justify retaliatory strikes, it is children like Mahyar Zanganeh – playing soccer on a seemingly ordinary school morning – who pay the ultimate price.

As international attention remains focused on geopolitical implications, the families of Abyek and Minab grieve. Their children did not choose this conflict. They simply went to school.

The international community watches with held breath as this crisis threatens to engulf the entire region. For the parents of Mahyar Zanganeh, and the 175 families in Minab, the crisis has already arrived – and it has taken everything.