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Minab missile footage analysis
Newly circulated video footage analyzed by investigative open-source researchers appears to show a missile impact near a girls’ school in Minab, southern Iran, on Feb. 28 that investigators identified as a U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile.
“Investigative group Bellingcat analyzed newly circulated footage that appears to show a Tomahawk cruise missile striking a compound in Minab, southern Iran, on Feb. 28 — meters from a school where an unclaimed blast killed more than 165 people.”
Bellingcat and other analysts geolocated the clip to a compound adjacent to the school and matched the footage to satellite imagery.
U.S. Central Command has acknowledged firing Tomahawks on Feb. 28.
Multiple outlets report experts and at least one U.S. official saying the footage makes an American Tomahawk the likely munition.
Geolocated strike near school
Multiple outlets say the impact was geolocated to a housing and compound area tied to Revolutionary Guard sites and to a nearby elementary school identified on the ground by murals and other features.
Satellite imagery and on-the-ground details were used to match the video to the Shajareh Tayyebeh school and to nearby IRGC facilities, including a clinic and the Seyyed Al-Shohada barracks.
Some analysts note the school had been separated from the military complex for years.
Imagery shows several buildings in the area were struck.
Casualty counts and verification
Reports differ slightly on the death toll and independent verification has been limited, but Iranian state media and health officials say the strike killed well over 160 people — most of them young girls — while U.S. and other outlets quote local tallies ranging from at least 165 to about 170.
“The blast hit a school adjacent to a Revolutionary Guard base and killed at least 165 people, mostly children.”
Independent verification on the ground is constrained because foreign journalists require permission to report outside Tehran, and social-media claims with varying numbers circulated early after the incident.
Disputed strike investigation
Responsibility for the strike is disputed and under investigation.
Some U.S. officials and independent analysts say the footage and the weapon type point toward U.S. forces.
Iran blamed the United States and Israel, and Israeli officials have denied operating in the area.
U.S. sources and outlets report the Pentagon is investigating and that a preliminary U.S. assessment considered the possibility that U.S. forces unintentionally struck the site.
President Trump publicly suggested competing narratives before saying he was "willing to live" with a U.S. probe.
Calls for independent probe
Humanitarian and legal voices have called for independent probes and warned of serious legal implications if a school was struck deliberately, with analysts pointing to the possibility of a "double-tap" that could have increased casualties.
“U.N. agencies, UNESCO and rights groups have called for an independent probe, saying that if a school was deliberately targeted it could amount to a war crime; Iranian state TV showed funerals for the victims.”
Rights groups, U.N. agencies and UNESCO urged an independent investigation, and legal experts told outlets that even a mistaken strike on a school would raise grave international-law concerns.
