A UN panel of child rights experts says it is “deeply disturbed” by reports that children were killed in an attack on a girls’ school in Minab, southern Iran — an incident Iranian authorities attribute to US–Israeli strikes and say left at least 165 dead.

In a statement, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child said it was “alarmed” by reports of strikes on civilian infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, which it said have injured and traumatised children and “claimed many young lives”.

The committee — a group of 18 independent experts that monitors compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child — said children must be protected from the effects of war, including threats to their safety and education.

Iran’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, has raised the incident with the UN human rights chief Volker Türk, describing the reported attack as “unjustifiable” and “criminal”, according to Iranian accounts.

UK Fact Check Politics note: the reported death toll and responsibility for the strike have not been independently verified, and access for verification inside Iran remains heavily restricted.