From Gaza to Tehran, Zionist regime’s war on children knows no borders

By Humaira Ahad

In Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery in southern Tehran, a new row of small graves has been dug into the earth. Photographs of children, some smiling in school uniforms, others wearing their favorite football jerseys, rest atop the fresh soil.

These graves belong to the youngest victims of Israel’s aggression on Iran that started on June 13: children whose lives ended before they had truly begun.

Since the first wave of aggression on June 13, when many high-ranking military commanders and nuclear scientists were martyred, Iranian health officials report that 44 women and 13 children have been killed, while nearly 170 women have sustained injuries.

Hossein Kermanpour, spokesperson for the health ministry, said that since the beginning of the imposed war by Israel against Iran, “44 women have been martyred, two of whom were pregnant mothers who lost their lives along with their unborn children. At least 13 of the war martyrs are children, the youngest of whom is 2 months old.”

A United Nations fact-finding mission confirmed that recent Israeli airstrikes in Tehran struck critical civilian infrastructure, including a children’s autism clinic. It noted that the attacks on medical facilities placed vulnerable patients and pediatric services directly in danger.

Iran’s youngest victims of Israel’s brutality

Rayan Ghasemian, the 2-month-old infant, was killed in his mother’s arms in the early hours of June 13 when the Israeli warplanes bombed residential neighborhoods of Tehran.

In another part of the capital, tragedy struck the Zakarian Amiri family. Zahra, just 7 months old, was killed alongside her 5-year-old sister Fatemeh, their father Mohammad Reza, and their aunt Zeinab Nabizadeh.

Once filled with lullabies and laughter, their home is now in ruins.

The youngest wounded civilian is a 4-year-old child currently in intensive care with 50 percent burns. His mother, Dr. Rasouli, a gynecologist, was killed in the Israeli aggression along with her husband and two-month-old daughter.

While Israel claims it targets only military infrastructure, the Zionist regime has, in practice, been attacking the residences of ordinary people.

Among those killed were poets, athletes, academics, and students, lives defined by creativity, talent, and imagination, cut short by the regime’s indiscriminate violence.

Playgrounds as targets

In the northwestern city of Tabriz, Taha Behroozi and Alisan Jabbari, both 7 years old, were killed when shrapnel from an Israeli drone exploded near their home.

The attack occurred on June 21. The children had been playing outside their home.

On June 23, an Israeli airstrike in the west-central Iranian city of Kashan killed two sisters, Rehyane (15) and Fatemeh (8), and their brother Ali (5).

Their father, mother, and grandparents also died in the attack.

In the western province of Lorestan, rising karate athlete Helena Gholami, a teenager, was killed during Israeli airstrikes that leveled parts of residential blocks.

In the southwestern province of Khuzestan, the regime attacked a water well facility, killing a 7-year-old child. His parents, who worked as guards at the facility, were also killed.

Tara Hajimiri, an 8-year-old gymnast, was killed when Israeli missiles struck her residential neighborhood in Tehran. She had recently won a local gymnastics competition.

Photos shared by her coach showed her holding a medal just days before her death.

These names and numbers reveal a chilling pattern: the Zionist regime has launched a war on Iran’s civilian life. Homes, clinics, and playgrounds have been targeted.

The youngest Iranians have become front-line casualties in Israel’s relentless assault.

Israel waging war on Iran’s children

Under international humanitarian law, especially the Geneva Conventions, attacks on civilian populations are strictly forbidden. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court classifies deliberate attacks on civilians as war crimes.

Israel, the usurper, flagrantly violates these laws through relentless military aggression not only against Palestinians but also against Iranian civilians, including children.

According to UN figures, since October 2023, Israel’s brutal military assaults have left more than 50,000 children killed or injured in Gaza. This staggering figure reveals a systematic pattern of violence by the occupying regime, which has continued to escalate its airstrikes into Iranian territory, killing civilians, mostly women and children.

The United Nations maintains Israel on its “blacklist” of nations abusing children in armed conflict, marking the second year in a row that the apartheid regime faces global censure.

Israel’s military aggression target families, reducing homes to rubble. The recent assaults on Iranian civilians expose the regime’s wider strategy to destabilize the region, marked by a blatant disregard for international law and the sanctity of human life.

Back in Behesht-e-Zahra, the sun sets over tiny graves that stand witness to Israel’s brutality against Iranian civilians. Each grave tells a story of loss and resilience, underscoring the human cost of the Zionist regime’s aggression – and Iran’s determination to endure.

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