Evidence Points to U.S. Tomahawk Striking Iranian Girls' School in Minab, Killing Scores

Investigative and verified footage published by Iran’s Mehr News and corroborated by independent investigators points to a missile strike that hit a girls’ elementary school in Minab on Feb. 28, coinciding with nearby strikes on an IRGC compound.

“Topline Video footage published by investigative journalists at Bellingcat and verified by the New York Times appears to show a U”

Forbes

Forbes reports that the footage "appears to show a U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile hitting an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps compound next to the Shajarah Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab, southern Iran," and notes the school "was already burning in the video when the missile strikes."

Forbes

The Intercept cites a New York Times analysis finding "a school was struck at roughly the same time as a nearby naval base."

Moneycontrol documents the same seven‑second Mehr clip of "a missile flying and exploding near Shajarah Tayyiba Primary School in Minab, southern Iran, on Feb. 28."

Weapons analysts who reviewed the short clip have pointed to physical features consistent with a U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile rather than short‑range ballistic alternatives.

Moneycontrol reports that "eight munitions experts who reviewed it concluded the projectile’s cylindrical body and beveled nose resemble a U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile — a weapon only the U.S. is known to deploy among parties in the current fighting."

The Intercept

Forbes likewise underscores that "The Tomahawk is a weapon not known to be used by Israel or Iran."

The Intercept relays former Pentagon officials’ observations that "the round-entry holes and near‑perpendicular impact angles are consistent with high‑altitude, longer‑range munitions fired repeatedly and precisely, not a short‑range ballistic missile."

Estimates of civilian casualties and the scale of harm vary across sources and remain contested.

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The Intercept

Forbes states the attack is linked to an estimated 175 deaths, mostly schoolchildren.

Moneycontrol records that Iranian authorities say the strike killed many civilians, with reports claiming as many as 175 dead including dozens of children.

Moneycontrol adds that The Washington Post could not independently verify those casualty figures.

The Intercept highlights wider discrepancies in early counts, noting that CENTCOM declined to estimate civilian deaths and that Tehran Times put Iranian civilian fatalities at more than 1,230.

These accounts contradict each other on casualty numbers, showing a range from about 175 to more than 1,230 and differing levels of independent verification.

Context and timing link the school strike to a broader campaign of U.S. and Israeli attacks in late February.

Forbes situates the Minab hit on Feb. 28 as "the first day of U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iranian targets."

The Intercept

The Intercept notes the strikes on the school and a nearby base "occurred within an hour of announced U.S.–Israeli strikes and before any reported Iranian retaliation."

The Intercept also cites an Airwars investigation that "says the opening days of the campaign hit far more sites than recent comparable U.S. or Israeli operations and that many U.S. targets correlate with heavily populated areas, raising early indications of high civilian harm."

Moneycontrol's timeline of the seven-second video likewise anchors the event to Feb. 28.

Despite mounting visual and forensic indicators pointing toward a Tomahawk strike, analysts and critics emphasize that attribution is not universally accepted and that evidence remains contestable.

“Did American Tomahawk missile hit Iranian school that killed over 100 girls”

Moneycontrol

Moneycontrol cautions that "the evidence in the clip is suggestive rather than conclusive."

Forbes

The Intercept records critics who say "the administration’s attribution of the school strike to Iran is unproven and accuse the White House of making unfounded claims to deflect blame," and notes challenges in official accounting as "CENTCOM declined to estimate civilian deaths."

Forbes nonetheless concludes that the "new footage and imagery add to evidence that the U.S. military was responsible," underscoring why the clip has prompted renewed scrutiny and calls for independent investigation.