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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Tess McClure

A photo of Iran’s bombed schoolgirl graveyard went viral. Why did AI say it wasn’t real?

Graves being prepared for victims of a reported strike in Minab, Iran
Graves being prepared for the victims of an airstrike on a school in Minab in southern Iran, 2 March 2026. Photograph: Iranian Foreign Media Department/Reuters

The graves, freshly dug, lie in neat rows of 20 across. More than 60 have already been carved out of the earth, with a few clusters of people standing gathered around them. Dozens more are marked out on the ground in front: small chalk rectangles, with diggers poised to complete their task.

The cemetery of Minab, photographed as it prepares to bury more than 100 of the town’s young girls, is one of the defining images of the US-Israeli war on Iran, bluntly capturing the devastating civilian toll.

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