DUBAI — Footage has emerged confirming a US Tomahawk missile targeting an Iranian naval base adjacent to a primary school in Minab where more than 168 children were killed, adding to evidence that indicates the US was responsible for the school strike. The video, released by Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency and geolocated to the site by the investigative collective Bellingcat, shows the missile hitting the Minab compound on the morning of 28 February, when US-Israeli strikes on Iran began. Combined with other evidence from the site, including verified videos, photos of the aftermath and satellite imagery of the strike, the new footage indicates that Shajareh Tayyiba primary school was hit during a set of strikes by the US, as it targeted the nearby Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) naval compound. The footage, which was filmed from a nearby construction site, shows a munition that experts said is consistent with an American BGM or UGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) striking a location inside the IRGC 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, according to Iranian state media. This adds to a body of evidence that seemingly contradicts President Donald Trump’s claims that Iran was responsible for the attack, and tallies with expert analysis and other outlets that found the United States military was likely responsible for the strike on the school. “Based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran,” Trump told reporters Saturday, characterizing Iranian munitions as “very inaccurate.” His administration has been more cautious about directly attributing blame for the strike. When asked by a reporter whether Trump’s claims were true, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, “We’re certainly investigating, but the only side that targets civilians is Iran,” while, before Trump’s statement, the White House had not ruled out that US military carried out the strike. Sam Lair, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, said the munition in the video is consistent with a US Tomahawk. Other weapons experts agreed with this assessment. Only the US Navy, not Israel, operates Tomahawk missiles, launching them from its surface ships and submarines, experts said. Satellite imagery of the aftermath of the bombing shows that at least four buildings were hit in the strikes: the school, and three buildings in the IRGC compound. While the primary school’s building was once part of the wider IRGC complex, it had been walled off from the IRGC compound for at least eight years, and had clear markers of being an educational building: its playing fields and colourful wall murals were visible in satellite images. Videos geolocated by CNN show that the school was struck at or around the same time as the base, with one showing smoke billowing both from the IRGC facility and the school building. N.R. Jenzen-Jones, a munitions expert and the director of Armament Research Services (ARES), told CNN that the satellite imagery and videos “paint a picture of multiple simultaneous or near-simultaneous strikes” hitting both the IRGC compound and the school. Initially, speculation swirled online that the blast at the school could have been caused by misfiring Iranian air defenses, as the IRGC tried to repel incoming air strikes. US officials have confirmed that the US has struck military targets in southern Iran. In a briefing Wednesday, Gen. Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, presented a map that plotted American and Israeli strikes on Iran over the first 100 hours of the war. He said Israel had mostly struck northern Iran while the US had targeted the south. The school bombing has been described by UNESCO as a “grave violation” of international law, and Human Rights Watch has called for it to be investigated as a war crime. — AgenciesDUBAI — Footage has emerged confirming a US Tomahawk missile targeting an Iranian naval base adjacent to a primary school in Minab where more than 168 children were killed, adding to evidence that indicates the US was responsible for the school strike. The video, released by Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency and geolocated to the site by the investigative collective Bellingcat, shows the missile hitting the Minab compound on the morning of 28 February, when US-Israeli strikes on Iran began. Combined with other evidence from the site, including verified videos, photos of the aftermath and satellite imagery of the strike, the new footage indicates that Shajareh Tayyiba primary school was hit during a set of strikes by the US, as it targeted the nearby Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) naval compound. The footage, which was filmed from a nearby construction site, shows a munition that experts said is consistent with an American BGM or UGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) striking a location inside the IRGC 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, according to Iranian state media. This adds to a body of evidence that seemingly contradicts President Donald Trump’s claims that Iran was responsible for the attack, and tallies with expert analysis and other outlets that found the United States military was likely responsible for the strike on the school. “Based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran,” Trump told reporters Saturday, characterizing Iranian munitions as “very inaccurate.” His administration has been more cautious about directly attributing blame for the strike. When asked by a reporter whether Trump’s claims were true, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, “We’re certainly investigating, but the only side that targets civilians is Iran,” while, before Trump’s statement, the White House had not ruled out that US military carried out the strike. Sam Lair, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, said the munition in the video is consistent with a US Tomahawk. Other weapons experts agreed with this assessment. Only the US Navy, not Israel, operates Tomahawk missiles, launching them from its surface ships and submarines, experts said. Satellite imagery of the aftermath of the bombing shows that at least four buildings were hit in the strikes: the school, and three buildings in the IRGC compound. While the primary school’s building was once part of the wider IRGC complex, it had been walled off from the IRGC compound for at least eight years, and had clear markers of being an educational building: its playing fields and colourful wall murals were visible in satellite images. Videos geolocated by CNN show that the school was struck at or around the same time as the base, with one showing smoke billowing both from the IRGC facility and the school building. N.R. Jenzen-Jones, a munitions expert and the director of Armament Research Services (ARES), told CNN that the satellite imagery and videos “paint a picture of multiple simultaneous or near-simultaneous strikes” hitting both the IRGC compound and the school. Initially, speculation swirled online that the blast at the school could have been caused by misfiring Iranian air defenses, as the IRGC tried to repel incoming air strikes. US officials have confirmed that the US has struck military targets in southern Iran. In a briefing Wednesday, Gen. Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, presented a map that plotted American and Israeli strikes on Iran over the first 100 hours of the war. He said Israel had mostly struck northern Iran while the US had targeted the south. The school bombing has been described by UNESCO as a “grave violation” of international law, and Human Rights Watch has called for it to be investigated as a war crime. — Agencies
