Melania Trump (left), first lady of the United States, presides over the United Nations Security Council at United Nations headquarters, Monday, March 2, 2026. File photo of Amir Saeid Iravani (right), the Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations. Photo: VCG

US first lady Melania Trump became the first spouse of a sitting world leader to preside over the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Monday. Yet her calling on member states to protect children's access to education has sparked wave of sarcasm and criticism after media reported that an airstrike killed at least 165 people at a girls' school in southern Iran.

Melania presided over a UNSC meeting on children and education in conflict in New York. Her remarks centered around the role of education for children in "advancing tolerance and world peace," according to BBC.

BBC and the Guardian noted it is the first time the spouse of any world leader has presided over the meeting, which Trump did on behalf of the US as it assumed the rotating presidency of the UN council this month.

The first lady also offered her condolences to families of US service members who have been killed, though she did not explicitly mention any particular military action.

"We have been reminded of this truth over the last two days," she told the UNSC. "Schools in Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman have closed and moved to remote learning owing to the ongoing military operations in the region," she said.

Melania's speech came after Iranian media's reports that at least 165 people, most of them likely children, were killed in a strike on a girls' elementary school in southern Iran on Saturday.

The search for survivors in the rubble of the Shajarah Tayyebeh school in the southern town of Minab ended Sunday, according to Mohammad Radmehr, the governor of Minab, Iranian state media reported. It appeared to be the deadliest attack in the ongoing American-Israeli bombing campaign.

Shortly before Monday's session began, Iran's Ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, said it was "deeply shameful and hypocritical" for the US to convene a meeting on protecting children during conflict while launching airstrikes on Iranian cities.

"For the US, 'protecting children' and 'maintaining international peace and security' clearly mean something very different from what the UN Charter provides," he told reporters.

Speaking at the meeting presided by Melania, Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the UN, said that China strongly condemns the targeting of children in attacks and urges parties to the conflict to fulfill their obligations under international humanitarian law, protect children from the ravages of war, and uphold the most basic moral conscience of humanity, according to China Central Television reports.

Attacks on schools are one of the six grave violations against children identified by the UN and should be firmly condemned and resolutely opposed, said Fu, noting that the international community should step up investigations into and accountability for incidents involving harm to children and the destruction of schools, and work together to prevent further atrocities.

File photo of the Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations Fu Cong. Photo: VCG

Melania's speech at the UN also drew backlash in international media, as major outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, France 24, and CBS all connected her remarks to the US strike on a school in Iran and the broader US-Israel military actions in Iran. The Guardian has noted that the first lady's UN security council speech came days after the airstrike at girls' school, and "Melania Trump's appearance at the UN also came against a backdrop of significant strain between Washington and the global humanitarian advocacy organization. Donald Trump has withdrawn the US from the World Health Organization, UNESCO and numerous other UN bodies, and has allowed billions in mandatory dues to go unpaid."

"The first lady advocated an increased focus on education and empathy, as her husband has waged war in the Middle East and sought to cut education funding at home," the New York Times reported.

"What a hypocrite! Another wonderful example of hypocrisy-uttering these sweet words when her husband -- the US has murdered young Iranian school girls-, children-…" wrote a X user NURTURE KNOWLEDGE.

Another X user wrote that "Melania Trump is chairing a UNSC meeting. Yes. THE UN Security Council. The US holds the presidency this month and this is who Trump chose to run it. We are in the middle of a widening regional war, nuclear powers are rearming, and this administration treats global diplomacy like a photo op. At this point it's not governance. It's a pageant."

"Maybe stop sending US service members to fight Israel's wars," X user Gentile wrote under the White House post of Melania's UN speech video.