Iran footballers pay tribute to victims of school strike at start of war

 The Iran men’s national team wore black armbands and posed with school rucksacks as the national anthem played before a match with Nigeria, to remember the victims of a strike on a primary school in Iran on the first day of the Middle East war.

The air strike on the school in the southern Iranian city of Minab on February 28 killed at least 170 people, including students and teachers.

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The attack happened on the day the United States and Israel launched the war with attacks across Iran.

Before kickoff in their friendly fixture against Nigeria in the Turkish town of Belek on Friday, the Iran players, including former FC Porto and Inter Milan striker Mehdi Taremi, held pink and purple school bags with ribbons on them.

Iran lost the match 2-1.

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Iran’s foreign minister on Friday accused the US of a “calculated, phased assault” on the school.

The New York Times has reported that the preliminary findings of a US military investigation indicate that a US Tomahawk cruise missile hit the school due to a targeting mistake.

The newspaper said the US military had been bombing an adjacent Iranian base, of which the school building was formerly a part.

The Iran team lined up for the pre-match formalities with the bags ready as the national anthem played [Umit Bektas/Reuters]

The target coordinates were set using outdated data, the paper reported.

US President Donald Trump initially suggested that Iran itself may have been responsible – despite the country not having Tomahawk missiles.

Iran has qualified for the World Cup finals this summer but has asked for its matches to be moved from the US to Mexico, after Trump warned that the players’ “life and safety” would be at risk if they took part.