The death toll from the alleged airstrike on a girls’ primary school in Iran’s Hormozgan Province has risen to 165, with rescue operations now concluded.

Officials said this on Monday to the state news agency `Islamic Republic News Agency’.

The governor of the southern city of Minab, where the school was located, said search-and-rescue efforts had ended.

Ninety-five people were also reported injured.

The government in Tehran has blamed the strike on the U.S. and Israel.

Israel has denied any involvement.

“None of the Israeli or American attacks there was known to us at that point in time,” Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said on Sunday.

Mr Shoshani added that Israel had recently carried out a highly precise operation more than 1,000 miles away, referring to the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

The United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF) said it was “deeply concerned” about reports of bombings in Iran, including the strike on the girls’ school in Minab.

“Attacks on civilians and civilian objects, including schools, constitute a violation of international law,” UNICEF’s German office said in a statement issued in Cologne on Sunday.

The reported details of the attack could not be independently verified.

UNICEF called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and urged all parties to comply with international humanitarian and human rights law, particularly regarding the protection of civilians and the provision of essential services for children.

(dpa/NAN)