Seven months after education was disrupted due to the terrorist U.S.-Israeli war, more than 16.5 million students return to schools across the Islamic Republic.

TEHRAN — The school bells rang across Iran on Wednesday as more than 124,000 schools reopened their doors to over 16.5 million students, restoring in-person education nationwide after seven months of disruption caused by the terrorist U.S.-Israeli war.

The first day of Mehr was more than the start of another academic year. Across the Islamic Republic, it marked the return of millions of children to classrooms after months in which education had continued through computers, mobile phones, television broadcasts and the Shad national online-learning platform.

The reopening was an expression of national continuity and resilience: the country's schools are functioning, its teachers are at their posts, and a new generation of Iranians is returning to the classrooms where its future is being built.

The war interrupted education. It did not stop it.

Education Minister Alireza Kazemi said schools were operating in person nationwide and that there were currently no major obstacles to their functioning.

"During the 12-day war and the Ramadan war, we had school closures, but at present there is almost no problem," Kazemi said, referring to the two rounds of U.S.-Israeli aggression against the Islamic Republic.

He acknowledged limited challenges in some areas, particularly around the Persian Gulf which has witnessed repeated American terrorist in recent months, but said local authorities would take necessary measures where conditions required.

"We are fully prepared, under any circumstances, to continue the education process with an in-person approach and in various formats," he said.

Seyyed Mostafa Azarkish, deputy minister of education for secondary education, said preparations had been based on in-person schooling as the central policy.

"The educational interruptions caused by the country's special conditions, including the war, demonstrated more than ever the necessity of continuing education," Azarkish said.

"Our effort is for the school to be the last place to be closed and the first place to be reopened."

That principle was put to the test during the war. When security conditions made physical attendance impossible, Iran shifted lessons online rather than allowing the education system to fall silent.

The Shad platform, television educational programming and other distance-learning mechanisms became essential to maintaining instruction.

For millions of children, however, seven months away from the classroom meant more than missing lessons. It meant missing friends, teachers, school ceremonies, sports, routines and the ordinary social life of childhood.

"A large part of primary students and their families have a strong desire for the start of in-person education," Rezvan Hakimzadeh, deputy minister for primary education, said. "It is natural that children miss connecting with their peers and friends at school."

The scale of the return is enormous. More than nine million students are enrolled in primary education. Lower-secondary schools have 3,948,152 students, while 1,711,527 are enrolled in the academic branch of upper-secondary education.

Another approximately 873,000 students are pursuing technical and vocational education, with around 555,000 enrolled in the Kardanesh skills-based branch.

This year's reopening is inseparable from the memory of the war. President Masoud Pezeshkian visited Fatemeh Zahra Girls' Elementary School in Tehran's District 11 ahead of the new academic year.

In a symbolic classroom decorated with symbols of resistance, he commemorated the 168 student martyrs of Shajareh-ye Tayyebeh Girls' Elementary School in Minab, struck by a U.S. Tomahawk missile on February 28, the opening day of the U.S.-Israeli attack. The school is to be registered as a national heritage site.

In Minab itself, Vice President for Science and Technology Hussein Afshin rang the "bell of blessings" at an elementary school to mark the new academic year. The symbolism was unmistakable. The bell rang again.

The return to school also coincides with Sacred Defense Week and the first official National Flag Day. Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Abbas Salehi said the red of the flag had acquired "an especially painful and significant meaning" following the deaths of children in Minab, Lamerd and other Iranian cities and villages.

"These children, whose share of the world should still have been school, play and dreams, have now become part of Iran's national memory and pain," Salehi said.

He delivered a direct message to those who believe military force or economic pressure can sever the Iranian people from their national identity.

"Those outside these borders who still believe that they can separate a nation from its identity and homeland through threats, sanctions, bombing or the spilling of children's blood have not read Iran's history," Salehi said.

The first day of Mehr is traditionally the beginning of school. This year, across Iran, it has become something larger. It is a declaration of continuity. The war forced classrooms to close. It drove lessons onto screens. It disrupted the lives of millions. But it did not close Iran's schools forever.

Seven months later, the bells are ringing again — and more than 16.5 million Iranian students are answering them.