Fact check finds Malala did condemn Iran girls’ school strike

Malala Yousafzai did publicly condemn the strike on a girls’ school in Minab, Iran, contrary to social media claims that she had remained silent on the attack. A fact-check by Pakistan Today found that posts accusing her of not speaking out were false and said she had issued a public response on X on 1st of March.

The controversy relates to the bombing of Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab, southern Iran, which Human Rights Watch said should be investigated as a possible war crime. Reuters reported that the school was visibly identifiable as a school through satellite imagery, murals, playground markings and archived online records, while the Pentagon has said the strike is under investigation.

According to the fact-check, Malala’s X post condemned the killing of civilians and children and addressed the deaths of schoolgirls in Iran, rejecting claims that she had said nothing after the attack. The fact-check concluded that posts portraying her as silent were inaccurate.

Debate intensified again after her recent remarks at the United Nations during the official International Women’s Day commemoration marking the opening of the 70th Commission on the Status of Women. In a speech later published by Malala Fund, she spoke about children and families affected by violence from Gaza to Iran and Afghanistan, and argued that justice cannot be selective.

Some critics on social media argued that the UN remarks did not directly assign responsibility for specific attacks, while others said the backlash ignored her earlier public condemnation of the Minab strike. That split helped fuel renewed online claims, even though her earlier statement had already been documented.

The Minab school strike has become one of the most scrutinised civilian incidents of the current conflict. Human Rights Watch said the February 28 attack reportedly killed scores of civilians, including many children, while Reuters reported evidence suggesting the site had long functioned as a school and that outdated targeting data may have played a role.