TEHRAN: Millions of Iranian children returned to classrooms on Wednesday as schools reopened following months of closures linked to the Middle East war.
Parents accompanied their children to schools across the country, with girls in western Tehran arriving at primary schools wearing uniforms and mandatory headscarves on the first day of the new academic year.
Schools were shut following the outbreak of the war on February 28. One of the conflict’s deadliest incidents occurred in the southern city of Minab, where a strike on a school claimed around 150 lives, including 120 children, according to Iranian officials.
In Minab, Iran’s Vice President for Science and Technology Hossein Afshin attended a school ceremony and rang the bell to officially mark the beginning of the new academic term.
The traditional bell-ringing ceremony is part of nationwide celebrations welcoming around 16.5 million Iranian students back to school.
President Masoud Pezeshkian also participated in a ceremony held two days ahead of the official reopening this year, before departing for New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
