A person holds an image of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as Iranian demonstrators protest against the U.S.-Israeli strikes, in Tehran on February 28, 2026. | Photo Credit: Reuters
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday (February 28, 2026) condemned what he described as a “barbaric” attack on a school in the country’s south, after U.S. and Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic.
“This barbaric act is another black page in the record of countless crimes committed by the aggressors,” he said in a statement on the attack, which Iranian state media has said killed at least 63 people and wounded dozens more.
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Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister said the country’s supreme leader was alive, along with all high-ranking officials.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was alive “as far as I know”, in an interview from Tehran with the U.S. outlet, adding that “all high-ranking officials are alive”.
Mr. Araghchi said he had been in contact with Gulf states and “explained for them that we have no intention to attack them but we are actually attacking the American bases in the act of self defence”.
He added that while there was no communication with Washington now, “if Americans wants to talk to us. They know how they can contact me. We are certainly interested for de-escalation”.
Published – February 28, 2026 10:19 pm IST
