New Delhi, March 12 -- India on Thursday expressed grief over the death of scores of children in a US missile attack on a girls' school in Iran, and emphasised the need to prioritise the safety of civilians amid the conflict in West Asia.

Iranian officials have said 175 people, most of them children, were killed in the attack on Shajareh Tayyebeh girls' elementary school in Minab city on February 28, the first day of the conflict. US media reports have cited American officials as saying that an ongoing military investigation has determined that the US was responsible for the deadly Tomahawk missile strike on the school.

"As far as the question of the school children.is concerned.we have issued several statements on the ongoing conflict....