Iran’s delegation to the Islamabad peace talks, headed by Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, paid tribute to the 168 Minab school bombing victims on their way to truce negotiations in Pakistan on Saturday.
In images shared on social media, Ghalibaf was seen looking at the photographs of some of the schoolchildren killed in the joint US-Israeli strikes at the beginning of the war in February.
The image of each child, along with their blood-soaked backpacks, which have become a symbol of US-Israeli horrors inflicted on the country, was placed on every plane seat, along with a single white rose.
Some of the plane seats also had blood-soaked shoes, worn by the children, at the time they were killed, as a stark reminder of the deadly strikes on the country.
The delegation is also using the name ‘Minab 168’, referring to the schoolchildren killed in the bombings.
Iran’s embassy in South Africa re-shared the image on social media platform X, writing: "We will never forget the children of Minab, ever".
The bombings targeted the Sharhareh Tayyebeh primary school, with the toll including 110 children.
At the time, the UN’s Volger Turk set the multiple strikes "evoked a visceral horror".
Following the strikes, Iran’s foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi circulated a satellite image showing the site where the children were killed, and decried US President Donald Trump’s actions, calling the attack a "cold-blooded" murder.
Saturday will see delegations from the US and Iran meeting in Islamabad to discuss Tehran’s proposed 10-point ceasefire plan.
Iran’s delegation is made up of Ghalibaf, Araghchi, and 12 others. The US delegation is made up of US Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.