Growing evidence suggests that a U.S. missile strike may have caused the deadly bombing of a girls’ school in southern Iran, contradicting claims by U.S. President Donald Trump that Iran was responsible.
The Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ primary school in Minab was struck on February 28 during a wave of attacks that also targeted nearby military facilities. Iranian officials say 168 people were killed, most of them children, making it one of the deadliest single incidents of the conflict.
Trump publicly blamed Iran for the tragedy, suggesting the country’s own weapons could have been responsible and arguing that Iranian missiles are often inaccurate. However, he did not provide evidence to support the claim. Iranian officials rejected that argument, noting that Iran has previously carried out long-range missile strikes against targets in Israel and against U.S. military bases across several countries in the Gulf, operations they say demonstrate the range and precision of their missile capabilities.
Investigations by journalists and open-source analysts have identified several indicators pointing toward a U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile, including video footage of a strike in the area, satellite imagery, and missile fragments reportedly bearing markings from U.S. manufacturers.
The Guardian reported that the school sits close to a facility linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, raising the possibility that it was hit during a broader strike on nearby targets. The United States has not officially acknowledged responsibility, but human rights organizations and UN experts have called for an independent investigation, warning that attacks on schools and children could constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law.
