type: timeline_event
On March 18, 2026, the anti-war organization Win Without War placed 168 children's backpacks on the Capitol lawn in Washington, D.C., each one representing a child killed in the U.S. Tomahawk missile strike on the school in Minab, Iran. The memorial came one week after the strike, which had drawn international condemnation and prompted calls for a war crimes investigation from Amnesty International and multiple foreign governments.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen stood among the backpacks and delivered remarks that became one of the most widely shared moments of anti-war protest since the conflict began. "Each of these backpacks represents an Iranian child who should still be with us — who should be in a classroom right now, not memorialized on this lawn," Van Hollen said. He called on Congress to exercise its war powers authority and demand a full, independent investigation into the strike.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal used the memorial to challenge the legal and strategic foundations of the entire Iran campaign. "There was no imminent threat from Iran that justified this war," Jayapal said. "There is no authorization from Congress. And now 168 children are dead because of decisions made in this city without democratic accountability." Rep. Sara Jacobs, who had been among the first members of Congress to call for a ceasefire, joined Jayapal in demanding that the administration declassify the intelligence used to select the Minab target.
The backpack memorial drew hundreds of congressional staffers, journalists, and anti-war activists to the Capitol grounds throughout the day. Win Without War had coordinated simultaneous smaller memorials at federal buildings in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco. The visual power of the display — rows of small, brightly colored backpacks arranged on the grass below the Capitol dome — became one of the defining images of the growing domestic opposition to the Iran war.