'More Horrific Death and Destruction Will Come,' Warns Tlaib as Israeli Strike Kills Dozens of Iranian Kids

More than 50 young children were reportedly killed Saturday by an Israeli airstrike on southern Iran as the US and Israel carried out joint attacks across the country. A local official told Iranian state media that "an Israeli missile attack" hit a girls' elementary school in Minab.

Saturday is a school day in Iran. A school staff member told Middle East Eye that "you could hear the sound of children crying and screaming" following the strike.

“We still don’t know how many are under the rubble," said the unnamed staffer. "Some are even saying more than 100. Some of these small children are severely injured. Their parents have come to the school, and this place has turned into a house of mourning.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on social media that the school "was bombed in broad daylight, when packed with young pupils."

"Dozens of innocent children have been murdered at this site alone," he added. "These crimes against the Iranian people will not go unanswered."

Al Jazeera noted that "separately, Iran’s Mehr news agency reported that at least two students were killed by another Israeli attack that hit a school east of the capital, Tehran."

“Every war is a war on children," said Inger Ashing, CEO of the global humanitarian group Save the Children. "All children have the right to access a safe education, and schools should always be a haven for children—not a battlefield."

In a statement, US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) alluded to the Minab school bombing as she condemned President Donald Trump for "acting on the violent fantasies of the American political elite and the Israeli apartheid government, ignoring the vast majority of Americans who say loud and clear: No More Wars."

"The Trump administration and Israeli regime’s illegal war of aggression on Iran has already killed dozens of children, and more horrific death and destruction will come," Tlaib warned. "These acts of war threaten to ignite a catastrophic regional war that will make no one safer while unleashing unconscionable suffering."

“President Trump will pretend this is about democracy and the rights of the Iranian people," she continued. "Don’t be fooled, Trump does not care about the Iranian people. The Iranian people are not pawns for the interests of foreign powers. Our government has imposed brutal sanctions that have destroyed the Iranian economy and the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. You cannot ‘free’ people by killing them and destroying their country."

Tlaib issued her statement shortly after Trump declared in a Washington Post interview that he decided to wage war on Iran to secure "freedom for the people." As of this writing, the White House has not responded to the Minab school massacre. (Update: A spokesperson for the US Central Command said in a statement that "we are aware of reports concerning civilian harm resulting from ongoing military operations. We take these reports seriously and are looking into them. The protection of civilians is of utmost importance, and we will continue to take all precautions available to minimize the risk of unintended harm.")

"I want a safe nation, and that’s what we’re going to have," Trump said as the US-Israeli onslaught hurled the Middle East into chaos.

Tlaib said in her statement that the US Congress "must stop the bloodshed by immediately reconvening to exert its war powers and stop this deranged president."

"But let’s be clear: Warmongering politicians from both parties support this illegal war, and it will take a mass anti-war movement to stop it," she added.