Iran School Attack: New Footage Contradicts Trump's Claims
Attack on School in Iran. New Video Contradicts Trump's Claims
New footage shows that the attack on the school, which killed 175 people, was carried out using a U.S. Tomahawk missile. This contradicts Donald Trump's claims that Iran was behind the airstrike.
A video released on Sunday sheds new light on the circumstances surrounding the February 28 attack on an elementary school in the city of Minab. It killed 175 people, mostly children.
The footage was published by the semi-official Iranian news agency Mehr News and verified by The New York Times. The newspaper reported that the footage indicates the attack was carried out using a Tomahawk cruise missile. It noted that the U.S. military is the only force involved in the conflict using this type of missile.
The footage shows the missile striking the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval base in Minab. It is located next to an elementary school, which is severely damaged in the attack.
Attack on School Trump: It's Iran
The attack on the primary school in Minab took place on the first day of the conflict, on Saturday, February 28th. Iran reported that 175 people, mostly students, were killed.
A few days later, The New York Times reported that the attack was likely carried out by US forces who had misidentified the target. The newspaper reported that the school had previously been part of the base complex but had been separated from it for 10 years.
The US president denied these reports. "No, in my opinion, based on what I've seen, Iran did this," Trump said. He added that Iran is "very imprecise" in its use of its munitions.
The funeral of the victims of the attack took place in Minab on Tuesday. Thousands of people gathered. Many held photos of the dead and Iranian flags. The crowd carried coffins draped in Islamic Republic flags, and anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans were chanted.
Dozens of graves dug for the victims of the raid were also visible in the photos. "These are graves dug for over 160 innocent girls who died in the bombing of an elementary school carried out by the US and Israel. Their bodies were torn to pieces," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi wrote on the X website.
New footage of school attack. US media points to culprit
A published video shows that a U.S. Tomahawk missile struck near an elementary school in Minaba, Iran, according to the New York Times and Bellingcat. According to Iranian media, at least 175 people, mostly schoolgirls, were killed. The U.S. president recently stated that "in his opinion, it was Iran's doing."
In Brief:
According to the New York Times and Bellingcat, published footage shows a US Tomahawk missile striking near an elementary school in Minaba.
Iranian media reports that at least 175 people, mostly schoolgirls, were killed in the attack.
Donald Trump stated that "in his opinion, it was Iran's work," but an American official anonymously told the Associated Press that the attack was most likely carried out by US forces.
Iran's Mehr news agency released new footage on Sunday showing the moment of the attack on a military building located next to a girls' primary school in Minaba, in the south of the country.
The airstrike occurred on February 28, the first day of the US-Israeli war with Iran.
Attack on school in Iran. Video shows American missiles.
The short video "appears to contradict" Trump's claims that Iran was behind the attack, wrote the investigative website Bellingcat, which analyzed the recording.
The New York Times reached the same conclusion, also confirming the credibility of the recording.
The newspaper previously reported that, according to available evidence, the school was severely damaged in a US attack on the neighboring barracks of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval unit.
Both the New York Times and Bellingcat emphasized that the video shows an impact from a Tomahawk cruise missile, which is used exclusively by the US armed forces.
Trump: It Was Iran's Work
US Central Command (CENTCOM) previously reported that it was using Tomahawks in attacks on Iran.
"In my opinion, based on what I saw, it was Iran's work," Trump said on Saturday when asked whether US forces bombed the school. He added that Iran was using its munitions "very inaccurately." Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth added that an investigation was underway, and that Iran was the only party to the conflict that was deliberately targeting civilians.
The Associated Press noted that investigating the attack was difficult because no independent team had been able to conduct an investigation. There were also no photos of the missile fragments after the explosion.
One US official, however, told the AP on condition of anonymity that the attack on the school in Minaba was most likely carried out by US forces.
The attack on the school in Minaba was the deadliest attack in the 28-year-old US-Israeli war with Iran. According to various estimates, between 1,200 and 1,300 people died in airstrikes on Iran (probably even more).
