Ali Fadavi, a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and former commander of the IRGC Navy, said in a television programme that his wife, Parvin Momen Zahmatkesh, founded the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab. The school was struck on 28 February 2026, the first day of the US-Israeli war with the Islamic Republic, and according to local officials 156 people, including 120 children, were killed there.
According to Iran International, Fadavi said in the programme, broadcast on Sunday 4 October, that his wife had set up around 97 schools across southern Iran, from Abadan to Chabahar. He also said that his wife "passed away" during the 12-day war of June 2025 and stressed that she had not been killed in an attack.
The Shajareh Tayyebeh school network and the IRGC Navy
Iran International reports that the schools were founded while Ali Fadavi commanded the IRGC Navy, near the force's bases in the south of the country. The network first operated under the name "Rastegaran" from 2013 to 2015 and was later renamed "Shajareh Tayyebeh". Parvin Momen Zahmatkesh was also the IRGC Navy's adviser on family affairs.
Earlier, a condolence message from Mohammad Pakpour, then commander of the IRGC, published after the 12-day war, had attributed her death to illness. The message noted that she had lived with diabetes for years.
Ali Fadavi's remarks are the first official acknowledgement of the link between the Minab school and a network of schools tied to the families of IRGC Navy commanders.
Background to the strike on the Minab school
The strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab was one of the deadliest events of the war for civilians. According to Iran International, Reuters reported in March that preliminary findings by the US military indicated the strike had been carried out by American forces and that the Pentagon had elevated its investigation. Donald Trump said in June that nobody had attacked the school intentionally. UN investigators said in September that there were reasonable grounds to believe the strike constituted a war crime.
Ali Fadavi, formerly deputy commander-in-chief of the IRGC, had also made headlines in recent days with remarks about the US military presence in the region, including his claim that American vessels had left the Persian Gulf, made at the same time as Pete Hegseth's comments on the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
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