News- Middle East: A government official says as many as 68 Iranian athletes were martyred during the Israeli regime’s 12-day unprovoked war against the Islamic Republic that began on June 13.

Seyyed Ghani Nazari, an official with the Ministry of Sports and Youths, announced the information during a ceremony in the north-central Iranian city of Qom on Tuesday.

The fatalities are among the 935 people who were martyred during the war that took aim at the country’s nuclear and military infrastructure as many as numerous civilian targets.

The victims include a number of senior military officials and nuclear scientists, the latter group having been targeted inside their own residential buildings.

Reports emerging towards the end of the warfare that ended after Iranian retaliatory operations forced the regime to request a ceasefire showed that at least 32 athletes, ranging from children and pre-teens to teenagers and young adults, had been martyred throughout the indiscriminate Israeli assaults.

Nazari underlined the nation’s resilience in the face of the aggression, noting, “Our religious culture has taught us not to surrender in the face of oppression.”

The official also hailed that national unity and cohesion had risen notably among the people’s ranks since the onset of the aggression, especially among the nation’s teenagers and young adults.

The Islamic Republic has called on the United Nations to bring the Israeli regime to account over the barbaric assaults, besides requesting accountability on the part of the United States.

The US provided the war with unprecedented military and intelligence support for Israel, as well as stepping it, itself, towards its final days by striking several Iranian nuclear sites.

Source: Press TV