On Saturday morning, as Iranian schoolgirls between the ages of seven and twelve sat in their classrooms at the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab, a missile reduced their building to rubble. Iranian state media reported a death toll approaching 165 children. The U.S. and Israel said they were checking into the reports. The school, it emerged, was near an IRGC naval base — as if proximity to a military target might eventually explain away the screaming in the footage that human rights organizations have already verified.
On the same day, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — the man who had ruled Iran for 36 years, overseeing executions of gay men, the brutal suppression of the 2022 women’s uprising, and the imprisonment of journalists, artists, and reformers — was killed in the joint U.S.-Israeli strike. His daughter, grandchild, and son-in-law died alongside him. Iran declared 40 days of mourning. Across social media, Iranians who had suffered under his rule wept with relief.
Both of these things are true at once. That is the nature of this moment, and the reason it demands more honesty than most public commentary is currently offering.