BEIJING, March 13: China on Friday said it will provide USD 200,000 in emergency humanitarian assistance to the students killed in an airstrike on an elementary school in Iran in the ongoing joint US-Israel attacks on the country.
China expresses deep condolences regarding the deaths of students in the recent attack on an Iranian elementary school and extends sincere sympathies to their families, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a media briefing here.
Red Cross Society of China has decided to provide the Iranian Red Crescent Society with USD 200,000 in emergency humanitarian assistance, he said.
Guo said China condemns all indiscriminate attacks against civilians and non-military targets. Targeting schools and harming children constitute a severe violation of international humanitarian law and cross the bottom line of human morality and conscience, he added.
“China is willing to continue to offer necessary support to Iran in the spirit of humanitarianism to help the Iranian people overcome the difficulties,” he said.
According to a statement by the United Nations on March 1, missiles reportedly destroyed a girl’s primary school in Minab, southern Iran, killing around 150 and wounding almost 100. Many students are believed to be among the dead. Iran has blamed the US and Israel for the attack on the school.
The US military’s Central Command (Centcom) said it was looking into reports of the incident, while Israel’s military said it was “not aware” of any IDF operations in the area, the BBC reported.
The girls’ school was located in Minab, near an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) base, which has previously been a target, it said.
Since the outbreak of hostilities with Israel and the US bombing Iran, leading to the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Syed Ali Khamenei, China, a close ally of Tehran, has been calling for an immediate stop to military operations with a ceasefire.
China urges parties to stop military operations at once, avoid further escalation, and prevent the regional turmoil from having a larger impact on global economic growth, Guo said in his media briefing on Thursday. (AP)
