Tehran: The death toll from a joint US-Israeli attack on a girls’ elementary school in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province has risen to 148, local media reported on Sunday. The strike also left 95 people injured, according to local prosecutor Ebrahim Taheri, cited by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Most of the victims were schoolchildren, while teachers, school staff, and students’ parents were also among the casualties, Xinhua reported, quoting Tasnim.

The attacks began Saturday morning, targeting Tehran and other major Iranian cities, including Tabriz, Qom, Isfahan, Kermanshah, and Karaj. Iran retaliated with missile and drone strikes against US and Israeli military bases across the region.

During the Tehran strikes, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Secretary of the Defence Council Ali Shamkhani, and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps chief Mohammad Pakpour were reportedly killed.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that military operations against Iran remain ongoing. “CENTCOM is now delivering swift and decisive action as directed,” it said via X. The command added that no US casualties have been reported and no US Navy vessels were struck, with damage to installations described as minimal and non-disruptive to operations.

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth described the campaign, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, as “the most lethal, most complex, and most precision-focused aerial operation in history.” He warned that Iran’s missile systems and production facilities, along with its naval forces, would be neutralised. “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon,” Hegseth affirmed, echoing longstanding US policy.

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Former CENTCOM commander General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. highlighted that the next 72 to 96 hours would be critical in assessing Iran’s capacity to sustain retaliatory missile strikes against US bases and regional partners.

IANS