‘Shameful’ that US Congress skipped human toll of war: Esmaeil Baghaei

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei has criticized US lawmakers for what he called a shameful failure to address the human toll of the war during a congressional hearing on additional conflict funding.

In a post on X, Baghaei said not a single question was raised about the human dimensions of the war, despite what he described as widespread awareness that American military action against Iran constitutes an illegal war accompanied by numerous war crimes, including strikes he named at Minab and Lamerd.

The hearing Baghaei referenced appears to be the same Senate Appropriations Committee session where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed the war’s cost at $37.5 billion, a hearing that was separately disrupted by protesters demanding an end to strikes in Iran and Gaza.

Baghaei’s statement points to two specific incidents he holds the US responsible for. According to reports citing Iranian accounts, at least 170 people were killed on the war’s first day when a primary school in the southern city of Minab was struck, with most victims reported to be children; separately, a sports hall in the southwestern city of Lamerd was hit the same day, killing at least 24 people. Reports describing the available evidence point to a US-manufactured Tomahawk missile in the Minab strike specifically, and attribute responsibility for the Lamerd strike to the US as well.

These casualty figures and attributions originate primarily from Iranian government and state-linked reporting, and have not been independently verified through neutral international monitors with direct access to the strike sites. Given the pattern of contested and difficult-to-verify claims from both sides throughout this conflict — including competing casualty figures, unverified military claims, and disputed accounts of individual strikes — these specific figures and the attribution of responsibility should be understood as Iran’s account pending independent confirmation, even though the scale of casualties described, if accurate, would represent a significant atrocity involving civilian and child deaths.

Iran’s Health Ministry has separately confirmed a broader toll of at least 38 people killed and over 400 wounded from strikes since June 22, though it’s unclear from available reporting whether that tally includes the Minab and Lamerd casualties Baghaei referenced, which he described as occurring on the war’s first day — a considerably earlier point in the conflict timeline that began February 28.

Baghaei’s criticism of Congress reflects a broader Iranian messaging strategy throughout the conflict, one that has consistently paired military claims and threats with efforts to draw international attention to civilian casualties, including recent photo releases naming individual victims in Hormozgan province. Whether this messaging shapes US congressional or public opinion on continuing the war’s funding remains uncertain, particularly given how the funding hearing itself proceeded without, according to Baghaei, addressing the human cost directly.