Steadfast children of Minab arrive in Mashhad, wounded by Ramadan war

The hands of the clock seemed frozen moments before 16:00 at Mashhad Railway Station as the city prepared to receive a caravan arriving from the distant south. Invited by the servants of the Imam Reza Shrine, a group of families from Minab entered the city on April 21, carrying memories of loss from the tragic events of the Ramadan war.
Standing among shrine servants whose green scarves symbolized service, welcoming groups waited along the platform with red roses in their hands. Their gaze stretched toward the endless railway lines as the train approached, bringing survivors who had endured nearly fifty days of grief.
When the train finally arrived, the sound of a military march filled the station, and a quiet yet powerful scene unfolded. The caravan of about 550 people—families and survivors connected to martyrs of the Ramadan attacks—stepped onto the platform. Photographers and reporters rushed forward to capture the moment as the visitors entered Mashhad seeking comfort at the shrine of Imam Reza.
As the train doors opened, scenes of sorrow and resilience emerged. Men dressed in black and women wrapped in traditional southern Arab cloaks walked slowly across the station. Many children held framed photos of their martyred relatives close to their chests, as if guarding the final memory of their loved ones.
Among the crowd were parents carrying the portrait of their only son, their steps heavy with grief. Nearby, an elderly grandmother clutched the photograph of her grandson with trembling hands, embracing it as though it were the last piece of her world.
One of the most striking images was a young girl whose small hands bore visible scars from the violence that struck her school. Her father quietly introduced her as a wounded survivor of the attack, a child carrying the mark of sacrifice at an early age.
As the caravan moved forward amid the fragrance of incense and roses, a mother raised the framed image of her child high above her head, as if presenting her sacrifice before Imam Reza. Moments later, voices echoed through the station singing a well‑known refrain praising Imam Reza and Imam Hussein.
Watching the gathering from a distance, observers saw a sea of black clothing beneath Mashhad’s sky—people who had come not to ask for worldly needs, but to place their grief in the presence of God and His saints.
On February 28, an elementary school for girls in Minab, southern Hormozgan province, was struck during the US-Israeli aggression on Iran. Iranian officials stated that at least 180 people, mostly schoolgirls, were killed and around 95 others were injured. The incident was described by Iran’s Foreign Ministry as deliberate, and it prompted international concern and calls for an investigation into the deadly strike.