The “Shajare Tayyibe” primary girls' school in Minob city, southern Iran, was struck on February 28, the day the US and Israeli regimes launched extensive attacks on Iranian military targets. According to Iranian authorities, the strikes resulted in at least 168 deaths, the majority of whom were schoolchildren. CNN, New York Times, Reuters, and BBC News, after conducting in-depth investigations and analyses, concluded that this strike was likely carried out by US armed forces.
Satellite imagery, geolocated videos, and expert assessments indicate that the school was hit simultaneously with a US attack on a nearby Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval base. CNN and NYT reported that smoke clouds were seen rising concurrently over both the IRGC base and the school building. New satellite images obtained on March 4 show at least six IRGC buildings and the school sustained numerous precise strikes, with four buildings completely destroyed.
Initially, online speculation suggested the school was hit by an errant Iranian air defense missile. US President Donald Trump also allegedly blamed Iran, stating, “We think it was Iran that did it, because they, as you know, are very inaccurate with their munitions.” However, N.R. Jenzen-Jones, director of Armament Research Services (ARES), emphasized that the damage patterns are consistent with high-precision aviation munitions, not malfunctioning anti-aircraft rockets. He suggested the US may have inadvertently struck the school while targeting the naval base, possibly due to outdated intelligence or failure to recognize the school was no longer part of the IRGC complex.
NYT noted that public satellite imagery shows the building had all the hallmarks of a school, including a sports field and recreational areas. Former State Department official Beth Van Schaak reportedly told the publication, “Given the capabilities of US intelligence, they should have known there was a school nearby.” The US regime has neither officially confirmed nor denied involvement, but officials had previously acknowledged strikes on military targets in southern Iran.
On March 8, Iran's Mehr agency released new video footage showing a missile falling in the IRGC base area in Minob. Experts assessed the munition in the video matches a US Tomahawk cruise missile. Video analysis by CNN, NYT, and BBC News indicated the most likely target was a medical clinic within the IRGC base, but the school may have been hit slightly earlier. According to NBC News, US administration members purportedly told Congress in closed-door briefings that US military forces conducted the strikes in the Minob area, but did not offer alternative explanations for who might have hit the school.
Source: www.gazeta.uz