The photograph, posted on X by Iran foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, shows long, orderly rows of freshly dug graves stretching across an open dirt field.As the United States and Iran continue to bomb each other and their respective allies, civilians have emerged as the real losers - and a haunting photograph of hundreds of freshly dug graves for schoolgirls killed in a strike in southern Iran has become a symbol of the human cost.

The photograph, posted on X by Iran foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, shows long, orderly rows of freshly dug graves stretching across an open dirt field.

White chalk rectangles mark each burial plot, while mourners gather nearby in what appears to be a somber funeral preparation.

The image is from Minab, where 165 schoolgirls were killed during a joint US-Israeli bombing of the school.

“These are graves being dug for more than 160 innocent young girls who were killed in the US-Israeli bombing of a primary school. Their bodies were torn to shreds,” Araghchi wrote. He added: “From Gaza to Minab, innocents murdered in cold blood”,

Iran's mission in India echoed the sentiment in a separate post, describing the burial site as “Small graves for little angels” and saying the elementary school students of Minab were now “together in heaven, side by side.”

According to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, quoting a local prosecutor, 96 people were also wounded in the strike.

The figures have not been independently verified.

Verified videos from the site of the school bombing showed rescue workers digging through collapsed concrete slabs and debris, with school bags pulled from the rubble.

At the United Nations, Iran described the strike as a deliberate attack on civilian infrastructure and labelled it a war crime and a crime against humanity

The Israeli military has said it is not aware of any strikes in the area cited by Iranian officials, while the US military said it was reviewing reports of civilian harm.