diff --git a/php-transformer/src/HtmlToBlocks/BlockFactory.php b/php-transformer/src/HtmlToBlocks/BlockFactory.php
index 14bda0102..04c5f5a34 100644
--- a/php-transformer/src/HtmlToBlocks/BlockFactory.php
+++ b/php-transformer/src/HtmlToBlocks/BlockFactory.php
@@ -517,7 +517,9 @@ private function blockHtml(string $name, array $attrs, array $innerBlocks): stri
 
         if ( 'core/group' === $name ) {
             $tag = $this->groupTagName($attrs['tagName'] ?? null);
-            return array( 'opening' => '<' . $tag . $this->blockSupportAttrs($attrs, 'wp-block-group') . '>', 'closing' => '</' . $tag . '>' );
+            // Core's ariaLabel block support saves the attribute as aria-label.
+            $ariaLabel = $this->htmlAttrs(array( 'aria-label' => (string) ($attrs['ariaLabel'] ?? '') ));
+            return array( 'opening' => '<' . $tag . $this->blockSupportAttrs($attrs, 'wp-block-group') . $ariaLabel . '>', 'closing' => '</' . $tag . '>' );
         }
 
         return '';
diff --git a/php-transformer/src/HtmlToBlocks/Classification/SourceElementClassifier.php b/php-transformer/src/HtmlToBlocks/Classification/SourceElementClassifier.php
index 3c8ea080c..b3e3d7450 100644
--- a/php-transformer/src/HtmlToBlocks/Classification/SourceElementClassifier.php
+++ b/php-transformer/src/HtmlToBlocks/Classification/SourceElementClassifier.php
@@ -422,7 +422,7 @@ public function hasOnlyPhrasingChildren(DOMElement $element): bool
                 continue;
             }
 
-            if ( 'br' === $tagName || $this->isInlineContentElement($tagName) ) {
+            if ( 'br' === $tagName || ( $this->isInlineContentElement($tagName) && ! SourceDom::isImageOnlyNamedGraphic($child) ) ) {
                 $nonAnchorText = true;
                 continue;
             }
diff --git a/php-transformer/src/HtmlToBlocks/Elements/ButtonLinkDispatcher.php b/php-transformer/src/HtmlToBlocks/Elements/ButtonLinkDispatcher.php
index 7e6a072e5..6d29802ee 100644
--- a/php-transformer/src/HtmlToBlocks/Elements/ButtonLinkDispatcher.php
+++ b/php-transformer/src/HtmlToBlocks/Elements/ButtonLinkDispatcher.php
@@ -174,7 +174,8 @@ private function hasLinkWrapperChildren(DOMElement $element): bool
             }
 
             $tagName = strtolower($child->tagName);
-            if ( in_array($tagName, array( 'br', 'img', 'svg' ), true) || $this->sourceElementClassifier->isInlineContentElement($tagName) ) {
+            if ( in_array($tagName, array( 'br', 'img', 'svg' ), true)
+                || ( $this->sourceElementClassifier->isInlineContentElement($tagName) && ! SourceDom::isImageOnlyNamedGraphic($child) ) ) {
                 continue;
             }
 
diff --git a/php-transformer/src/HtmlToBlocks/Elements/InlineContentElementConverter.php b/php-transformer/src/HtmlToBlocks/Elements/InlineContentElementConverter.php
index 26096288a..ec50d6480 100644
--- a/php-transformer/src/HtmlToBlocks/Elements/InlineContentElementConverter.php
+++ b/php-transformer/src/HtmlToBlocks/Elements/InlineContentElementConverter.php
@@ -70,6 +70,17 @@ public function convert(DOMElement $element, string $tagName, array &$fallbacks)
             }
         }
 
+        // A named graphic of images is one group of native images; the group
+        // carries the graphic's accessible name.
+        if ( SourceDom::isImageOnlyNamedGraphic($element) ) {
+            $attrs = $this->styleResolver->presentationAttributes($element);
+            $label = trim(SourceDom::attr($element, 'aria-label'));
+            if ( '' !== $label ) {
+                $attrs['ariaLabel'] = $label;
+            }
+            return ConversionOutcome::handled($this->createBlock->createBlock('core/group', $attrs, $this->context->convertChildren($element, $fallbacks), $element));
+        }
+
         // Captured markup can place flow content inside an inline wrapper. A
         // native group retains that wrapper's presentation while its children
         // follow their own semantic conversion paths.
diff --git a/php-transformer/src/HtmlToBlocks/Support/SourceDom.php b/php-transformer/src/HtmlToBlocks/Support/SourceDom.php
index 96d04025f..bc579ffd9 100644
--- a/php-transformer/src/HtmlToBlocks/Support/SourceDom.php
+++ b/php-transformer/src/HtmlToBlocks/Support/SourceDom.php
@@ -918,6 +918,29 @@ public static function isInlineImageMark(DOMElement $element): bool
             && self::hasOnlySafeFallbackAttributes($element);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * An element with `role="img"` whose content is only images is one named
+     * graphic (ARIA makes its descendants presentational), not phrasing
+     * content: it becomes a group of native images carrying the accessible
+     * name, never inline RichText.
+     */
+    public static function isImageOnlyNamedGraphic(DOMElement $element): bool
+    {
+        if ( 'img' !== strtolower(trim(self::attr($element, 'role'))) || 'img' === strtolower($element->tagName) || '' !== trim($element->textContent ?? '') ) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        $images = 0;
+        foreach ( $element->getElementsByTagName('*') as $descendant ) {
+            if ( 'img' !== strtolower($descendant->tagName) ) {
+                return false;
+            }
+            ++$images;
+        }
+
+        return 0 < $images;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Whether a text element's every `<img>` is an inline image that RichText
      * carries as its `core/image` object format: a real, safe source sitting
diff --git a/php-transformer/tests/unit/role-img-image-graphic-native-group.php b/php-transformer/tests/unit/role-img-image-graphic-native-group.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..42b11ef83
--- /dev/null
+++ b/php-transformer/tests/unit/role-img-image-graphic-native-group.php
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+<?php
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+require __DIR__ . '/../../vendor/autoload.php';
+
+use Automattic\BlocksEngine\PhpTransformer\HtmlToBlocks\HtmlTransformer;
+
+/**
+ * An element with `role="img"` whose content is only images is one named
+ * graphic, not phrasing content. Beside a sibling text span it used to be
+ * lowered into the parent's RichText, where its images failed the inline image
+ * gate and the whole parent became core/html. Inside a link tile the same
+ * RichText rejection fell through to fallback reduction, which turned the tile
+ * into a core/button whose label held the images.
+ *
+ * The graphic is now a core/group of core/image blocks carrying the accessible
+ * name through the Group's ariaLabel support; the sibling text still converts.
+ */
+
+$collect = static function (array $blocks, string $name) use (&$collect): array {
+    $found = array();
+    foreach ( $blocks as $block ) {
+        if ( $name === ($block['blockName'] ?? '') ) {
+            $found[] = $block;
+        }
+        array_push($found, ...$collect($block['innerBlocks'] ?? array(), $name));
+    }
+    return $found;
+};
+
+$failures = array();
+$mosaic = '<span class="mosaic" role="img" aria-label="Plates"><img src="a.png" alt=""><img src="b.png" alt=""></span>';
+
+foreach ( array(
+    'unnamed graphic beside text'      => array( '<main><div><span role="img"><img src="a.png" alt=""></span><span>04</span></div></main>', 1, '' ),
+    'named single-image graphic'       => array( '<main><div><span role="img" aria-label="Plates"><img src="a.png" alt=""></span><span>04</span></div></main>', 1, 'Plates' ),
+    'named mosaic beside text'         => array( '<main><div class="card-image">' . $mosaic . '<span>04</span></div></main>', 2, 'Plates' ),
+    'named mosaic in a link tile'      => array( '<main><a class="tile" href="/x/">' . $mosaic . '<span class="overlay"></span><span class="index">04</span><span class="copy"><strong>Title</strong><small>Sub</small></span></a></main>', 2, 'Plates' ),
+) as $name => [ $source, $imageCount, $label ] ) {
+    $result = ( new HtmlTransformer() )->transform($source)->toArray();
+    $markup = (string) ($result['serialized_blocks'] ?? '');
+    $blocks = $result['blocks'] ?? array();
+
+    if ( str_contains($markup, '<!-- wp:html') ) {
+        $failures[] = $name . ': emitted core/html: ' . $markup;
+    }
+    if ( array() !== $collect($blocks, 'core/button') ) {
+        $failures[] = $name . ': emitted a core/button: ' . $markup;
+    }
+    if ( $imageCount !== count($collect($blocks, 'core/image')) ) {
+        $failures[] = $name . ': expected ' . $imageCount . ' core/image blocks: ' . $markup;
+    }
+
+    $graphic = null;
+    foreach ( $collect($blocks, 'core/group') as $group ) {
+        $children = $group['innerBlocks'] ?? array();
+        if ( array() !== $children && array() === array_filter($children, static fn (array $child): bool => 'core/image' !== ($child['blockName'] ?? '')) ) {
+            $graphic = $group;
+        }
+    }
+    if ( null === $graphic || $imageCount !== count($graphic['innerBlocks']) ) {
+        $failures[] = $name . ': expected one core/group holding the graphic images: ' . $markup;
+    } elseif ( $label !== (string) ($graphic['attrs']['ariaLabel'] ?? '') ) {
+        $failures[] = $name . ': expected the group ariaLabel "' . $label . '": ' . $markup;
+    } elseif ( '' !== $label && 1 !== preg_match('#<div class="wp-block-group[^"]*" aria-label="' . preg_quote($label, '#') . '">#', $markup) ) {
+        $failures[] = $name . ': expected the saved group to carry aria-label: ' . $markup;
+    }
+
+    $texts = implode(' ', array_map(static fn (array $paragraph): string => strip_tags((string) ($paragraph['innerHTML'] ?? '')), $collect($blocks, 'core/paragraph')));
+    if ( ! str_contains($texts, '04') ) {
+        $failures[] = $name . ': lost the sibling "04" text: ' . $markup;
+    }
+    if ( 'pass' !== ($result['source_reports']['wp_block_validity']['status'] ?? '') ) {
+        $failures[] = $name . ': block validity did not pass: ' . json_encode($result['source_reports']['wp_block_validity'] ?? null);
+    }
+}
+
+if ( array() !== $failures ) {
+    fwrite(STDERR, implode("\n", $failures) . "\n");
+    exit(1);
+}
+
+echo "role-img-image-graphic-native-group: ok\n";