U.S. First Lady Melania Trump presided over a U.N. Security Council meeting on Monday focused on children in conflict, a topic she has long championed. The meeting took place amid escalating tensions between the United States, Israel, and Iran, with reports of an airstrike hitting a girls’ school in southern Iran and killing at least 165 people.

Iranian Retaliation and U.S. Involvement

Iranian state media reported an airstrike that struck a girls’ school in southern Iran, killing at least 165 people and wounding dozens more. The Israeli military said it was not aware of strikes in the area, while the U.S. military said it was looking into the reports. Iranian Ambassador to the U.N., Amir Saeid Iravani, criticized the U.S. for convening a meeting on protecting children during conflict while conducting airstrikes on Iranian cities.

‘For the United States, ‘protecting children’ and ‘maintaining international peace and security’ clearly mean something very different from what the U.N. Charter provides,’ Iravani told reporters.

U.N. political chief Rosemary DiCarlo acknowledged the impact of the U.S.-Israeli strikes and Iranian retaliation on children across the region. She noted that schools in Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman have closed and moved to remote learning due to the ongoing military operations.

U.S. Policy and U.N. Funding Cuts

Melania Trump was the first spouse of a world leader to take the president’s seat at the U.N. Security Council, which is tasked with ensuring global peace and security. The U.S. has taken over the council presidency for the month of March, and Melania Trump was given the opportunity to address the body.

During her address, Melania Trump emphasized the importance of peace and the need to protect children’s access to education and technology in conflict zones. However, her husband’s administration has cut funding for several U.N. agencies and international organizations that address these issues.

Among the affected agencies is the U.N. Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children in Armed Conflict, which provides detailed reporting on the impact of conflicts on children worldwide. President Trump withdrew U.S. support for this agency in January.

The U.S. has also significantly reduced funding for the U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF, and has withdrawn from the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO.

Global Conflicts and the Role of the U.N.

DiCarlo told the Security Council that the world is facing the highest number of armed conflicts since World War II. ‘The number of civilians killed in these conflicts is the highest in decades,’ she said. ‘Our reality is clear: When conflicts erupt, children are among those most severely affected.’

Melania Trump arrived at U.N. headquarters in a motorcade and was greeted by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. She shook hands with each of the 15 Security Council members and posed for a group photo. The rotating president of the council gets to choose the subject and participants for some meetings, and Monday’s meeting was scheduled before the war began.

The council’s last meeting on Saturday was a contentious emergency session called in response to the start of the war. Guterres condemned the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes as violations of international law, including the U.N. Charter. He also condemned Iran’s retaliatory attacks for violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations in the Mideast.

Melania Trump’s support for Ukrainian children was highlighted earlier this year when she took the unusual step of writing a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin before his summit with her husband. This effort reportedly led to a group of children displaced by the Russia-Ukraine war being reunited with their families.

Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 resulted in Russia taking Ukrainian children out of their country to be raised as Russian citizens. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has lobbied world leaders for help in reuniting families affected by the conflict.

As the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict continues to escalate, the role of international organizations and the impact on children in conflict zones remain at the forefront of global discussions. The U.N. Security Council meeting chaired by Melania Trump highlights the complex interplay between global diplomacy and the ongoing military operations in the Middle East.