Video shows US Tomahawk strike near Iranian school where 175 killed

ANKARA

A newly released video shows a US Tomahawk cruise missile striking a naval base beside an elementary school in southern Iran where 175 people — many of them children — were reported killed, media reports said on Sunday.

The footage shows a missile hitting a facility inside a naval base operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the southern Iranian town of Minab on Feb. 28.

Analysis by The New York Times, based on satellite imagery, social media posts and additional verified videos, indicates that the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School building was severely damaged by a precision strike that occurred around the same time as attacks on the adjacent IRGC naval base.

The video shows the missile striking a building described as a medical clinic inside the base, sending plumes of smoke and debris into the air.

As the camera pans across the area, large clouds of dust and smoke are already rising from the vicinity of the school, suggesting it had been struck shortly before the impact on the naval facility.

The US military is the only force involved in the conflict known to use Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Asked by a reporter whether the US had bombed the school, President Donald Trump denied responsibility.

“No. In my opinion, and based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran,” Trump said, adding that Iranian munitions were “very inaccurate.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon was reviewing the incident.

“The only side that targets civilians is Iran,” he said.

The Tomahawk cruise missile is a long-range guided weapon capable of traveling about 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) and is programmed with a specific flight path before launch.

Each missile measures about 20 feet (6 meters) in length and has a wingspan of around 8.5 feet (2.6 meters).

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that US forces were conducting strikes in southern Iran at the time of the attack.

“The first weapons launched at sea were Tomahawks fired by the United States Navy,” Caine said during a Pentagon briefing cited by The New York Times.

The findings are also consistent with a separate analysis by the open-source investigative group Bellingcat, which identified a Tomahawk missile strike on an IRGC facility near the school and reported smoke rising from the school area shortly before the impact.

The Feb. 28 strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School killed more than 170 people, many of them children, according to Iranian officials.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) described the killing of students as a “grave violation” of protections for educational facilities under international humanitarian law and called for a full investigation. No party has formally claimed responsibility.