A new video, published on Mehr News, a semi-official Iranian news agency, is the first to show missiles hitting the Minab region in southern Iran on February 28.
The footage, shot from a nearby construction site, shows a munition that experts say resembles a U.S. BGM or UGM-109 Tomahawk missile hitting a location inside the Revolutionary Guards base. As the camera pans to the right, a huge plume of smoke can be seen from the direction of the Shajareh Tayyiba school, where at least 168 children and 14 teachers were killed.
This evidence appears to contradict President Donald Trump’s claims that Iran was responsible for the attack, and is consistent with CNN reporting and expert analysis that concludes that the US military was likely responsible for the school strike.
Conflicting statements
“Based on what I’ve seen, this was done by Iran,” Trump told reporters on Saturday, calling the Iranian munitions “very inaccurate.”
His administration has been more cautious. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, when asked if Trump’s claims were true, said: “We’re certainly looking into it, but the only party that’s targeting civilians is Iran.”
Technical analysis of the Tomahawk missile
Visual characteristics: Cross-shaped with centrally located fins.
Size: The distance from the impact point suggests a large size, ruling out smaller munitions (such as the GBU-69B).
Experts point out that only the U.S. Navy, not Israel, has Tomahawk missiles, which it launches from surface ships and submarines.
Proximity of base and school
Satellite images show that the school and the IRGC base were once part of the same compound, until a fence was erected in 2016. N.R. Jenzen-Jones, an expert on munitions (ARES), said the data paints a picture of “multiple simultaneous or near-simultaneous hits” that hit both the base and the school.
While there has been speculation that the explosion at the school may have been caused by a failure of Iranian air defenses, Jenzen-Jones considers this unlikely, as the damage to the base suggests the use of precision weapons.
Democrats call for “impartial” investigation
Following the new evidence, opposition US Democratic senators today called for an “impartial” Pentagon investigation into the school bombing, which occurred on the first day of the US-Israeli offensive against the Islamic Republic.
“Independent analysis credibly suggests that the attack may have been carried out by US forces, which, if proven true, would make this attack one of the worst cases of civilian casualties in decades of US military interventions in the Middle East,” senior Democratic senators wrote in a statement.
“The killing of students is shocking under any circumstances,” they added, demanding that Hegseth conduct a “full and impartial investigation” into the incident.
“This incident is particularly troubling given Secretary Hegsketh’s openly arrogant stance on the use of force, especially when he stated that US attacks on Iran would not be subject to ‘stupid rules of engagement,’” the senators, including Jeanne Shaheen, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stressed.
