Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday for the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting aboard an aircraft carrying a pointed message from Tehran: Minab168. The inscription on the plane is a reference to the 168 schoolchildren Iran says were killed in a US strike on a school in Minab on February 28, underscoring the war’s human toll even as diplomatic engagement continues.Images of Araghchi boarding the aircraft in Tehran showed the #Minab168 marking prominently displayed on the fuselage.Araghchi’s visit comes at a fraught moment for West Asia, with the ongoing conflict involving Iran and the US-Israel axis expected to dominate discussions at the BRICS foreign ministers’ gathering in Delhi. He is also expected to hold bilateral talks with external affairs minister S Jaishankar, with energy security, regional stability and connectivity likely to be on the agenda.The reference on Araghchi’s aircraft points to one of the deadliest and most emotionally charged incidents of the ongoing Iran conflict.
What happened in Minab?
On February 28, the first day of the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran, the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab, a city in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province near the Strait of Hormuz, was hit during a strike that Iranian authorities say killed 168 schoolchildren. The attack quickly became a defining symbol of the war’s civilian toll. UNICEF said the victims included children between the ages of 7 and 12, calling it a stark reminder of the cost of conflict on civilians.Minab’s location added to the controversy. The school was situated close to an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) facility, prompting questions over whether it was caught in a strike aimed at nearby military infrastructure. The Pentagon later opened a higher-level investigation into the incident after preliminary findings suggested US forces may have been responsible, with reports indicating the possibility of faulty or outdated intelligence.
