Iranian Gen Z warns UN USIsraeli attacks have devastating consequences for entire generation

Iranian ‘Gen Z’ warns UN: U.S.-Israeli attacks have devastating consequences for entire generation

TEHRAN – More than 100,000 Iranian ‘Generation Z’ youth and teenagers have signed a letter to UN Secretary General, António Guterres, and his Assistant Secretary General for Youth Affairs, Felipe Paullier, warning them that the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran ‘can result in devastating and long-term consequences for an entire generation’.

“Attacks against residential areas, hospitals, schools, cultural heritage sites, and humanitarian facilities are reprehensible and unjustifiable.

Disruption of education, destruction of social infrastructure, severe environmental harm, psychological trauma, and direct threats to their safety can result in devastating and long-term consequences for an entire generation,” the letter reads.

The following is the full text of the letter:

Your Excellencies, On the morning of Saturday, 28 February 2026 (9 Esfand 1404), several locations across the Islamic Republic of Iran — including key national governmental and administrative centers — were targeted in a series of organized and deliberate military attacks attributed to the Government of the United States of America and the Israeli regime.

In the following days, additional strikes hit multiple civilian areas and vital infrastructure across several provinces. The human consequences of these attacks, particularly for children, teenagers, and youth, are profoundly alarming.

Young people and teenagers represent one of the essential pillars of human development, social progress, and lasting peace. The international community has repeatedly affirmed — through frameworks such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs) and the UN Youth Strategy — that ensuring the growth, learning, and participation of young generations in safe, stable, and healthy environments is a fundamental global necessity. Protecting the lives, health, and future opportunities of youth is not only a national duty but also a shared commitment of the international community.

In times of war and armed conflict, children, teenagers, and youth are among the most vulnerable members of society. Disruption of education, destruction of social infrastructure, severe environmental harm, psychological trauma, and direct threats to their safety can result in devastating and long-term consequences for an entire generation.

According to current reports, the following incidents have been recorded as a result of the joint attacks by the United States and the Israeli regime:

To date, more than 53 children under five years old and at least 1,510 children and teenagers, including a significant number of students, have been injured. Among the fatalities (Shohada) are at least 13 children under five and over 220 children and teenagers under 18.

Notably, a direct strike attributed to the U.S. Government using two Tomahawk missiles on Shajareh Tayyebeh Girls’ School in the city of Minab, during school hours, resulted in the deaths of more than 165 schoolgirls and several teachers— a tragic and horrifying event. According to the latest statistics, the total number of deaths has reached at least 5000 people.

The geographical scale and structural devastation are also extensive and deeply concerning. Reports indicate that 29 of 31 provinces have been directly affected. According to the Iranian Red Crescent, over 70,000 civilian structures — including residential, commercial, administrative, and industrial facilities — have been damaged. Furthermore, more than 500 schools nationwide have been directly or indirectly targeted so far.

Emergency and medical aid systems have also suffered heavy losses. Over 268 hospitals, emergency bases, healthcare centers, and Red Crescent aid stations have been destroyed or damaged, and at least 36 ambulances have been lost. More than 22 doctors and nurses lost their lives while performing their duties to save others, and at least 104 others were injured.

These incidents raise serious concerns under international humanitarian law. The Four Geneva Conventions of 1949, particularly the Fourth Convention on the protection of civilians, set out clear obligations to safeguard civilian populations and property during armed conflicts.

Additional Protocol I (1977) further underscores the need to protect medical units, humanitarian personnel, and civilian infrastructure.

The fundamental principles of international humanitarian law require parties to a conflict to distinguish at all times between military and civilian objectives.

Attacks against residential areas, hospitals, schools, cultural heritage sites, and humanitarian facilities are reprehensible and unjustifiable. Under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, intentional attacks against civilians, medical facilities, humanitarian personnel, or protected civilian infrastructure may constitute war crimes.

Moreover, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) obliges the international community to ensure the survival and protection of children and to take all feasible measures to safeguard them during armed conflicts. The scale of casualties and destruction among children and students in these attacks demands urgent international attention.

In addition to human casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure, there are alarming reports of direct and indirect damage to some of Iran’s most significant cultural and historical heritage sites. These monuments are not only integral to the cultural identity of the Iranian nation but also form part of humanity’s shared heritage.

Among these are numerous monuments registered on Iran’s National Heritage List, some of which are also UNESCO World Heritage Sites — including:

In Tehran: Golestan Palace Complex (UNESCO 2013), historic citadels, the old bazaar, Marmar (Marble) Palace, Shahrbani Building, Senate Building, Sepahsalar Mosque, and Farahabad Palace Museum;

In Isfahan: the Shah Abbas (Imam Khomeini) Grand Mosque, Naqshe Jahan Square (UNESCO 1979), Chehel Sotoun Palace (UNESCO 2011), and parts of the historic urban fabric;

In Kordestan: Salar Saeed Mansion (Sanandaj Archaeology Museum), Khosroabad Mansion, and Asif Vaziri House;

In Lorestan: FalakolAflak Ancient Castle and its museums;

In Kermanshah: Biglarbeigi Tekyeh and Kazzazi Historical School;

In Bushehr: Sabzabad Mansion and the White House Historic Building.

Under international humanitarian law, cultural property enjoys special protection. The 1954 Hague Convention and its Protocols on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict oblige states and parties to refrain from any attacks or hostile acts against monuments, museums, libraries, religious buildings, and other cultural objects.

Reports also indicate attacks on nonmilitary energy infrastructure, including urban fuel and oil depots in Tehran, Karaj, and Shahre Rey. Such attacks disrupt essential public services and may cause serious environmental damage.

Under the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions and the 1976 ENMOD Convention (Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques), parties to armed conflicts must protect the natural environment from widespread, long-term, or severe damage and refrain from using environmental modification methods for hostile purposes.

Experience from armed conflicts worldwide shows that attacks on oil, chemical, or industrial facilities often produce consequences far beyond the immediate operational zone — including oil spills, air and water pollution, and ecosystem destruction — posing long-term threats to public health, environmental security, and the lives of future generations.

We, the Generation Z youth and teenagers of Iran, express our deep concern regarding these aggressive attacks and strongly condemn the actions that have resulted in the loss of innocent lives — including civilians — and the destruction of national infrastructure, cultural heritage, and civilian property.

Given the moral and institutional responsibilities of the United Nations Office of Youth in supporting the interests and futures of young people worldwide, we respectfully request that the following urgent actions be considered:

Draw immediate international attention to the humanitarian consequences of these attacks, particularly their severe impact on children, teenagers, students, and youth,

Encourage the international community to take measures to halt and prevent the recurrence of such aggressive actions against nations, particularly civilians, and to publicly condemn the attacks on the Islamic Republic of Iran,

Establish an independent international mechanism, once hostilities cease, to investigate the humanitarian and legal dimensions of these events — documenting the damage inflicted on Iran and assessing violations of international law.

We sincerely hope that the United Nations Office of Youth, in line with its mandate to empower and support young people, will pay due attention to these concerns and help raise global awareness about the conditions of the affected children, teenagers, and youth.

source: tehrantimes.com