U.S. Military Refuses to Endorse Trump Claim That Iran Bombed Girls’ School

The Intercept presents evidence and expert analysis suggesting the attack was not by Iran but by a long-range cruise missile consistent with U.S. munitions.

“President Donald Trump claimed that Iran, not the U”

The Intercept

A video released by Iran’s semiofficial Mehr News Agency shows a cruise missile striking the naval base with smoke billowing from the school.

The Intercept

Bellingcat identified the weapon as a Tomahawk.

Wes Bryant, a former Special Operations joint terminal attack controller, said the munition is 'only employed by the U.S., not Israel or Iran' and described the strikes as 'incredibly precise and well-placed,' suggesting the school was hit by 'target misidentification.'

A former Pentagon official on background noted entry holes indicating a near-perpendicular, parabolic trajectory consistent with a longer-range weapon and said the timing—within an hour of announced U.S.–Israeli strikes and before any reported Iranian retaliation—supports that conclusion.

The New York Times analysis cited by the article found the school was hit roughly the same time as the naval base.

New Lines Magazine reported the school had been partitioned off from the base by 2016, and the article says reports first appeared just after 11:30 a.m. local time, though it does not specify which report that refers to.

The article stresses that no definitive public attribution has been made.

It says the incident remains under investigation, noting CENTCOM urged against getting ahead of the investigation’s findings and that the White House did not respond to requests for comment.

The Intercept

The Intercept also cites broader reporting on the U.S. campaign in Iran, noting an Airwars investigation that found the opening days of the war saw more sites targeted than recent comparable campaigns.

The Intercept adds that initial indications point to a high rate of civilian harm, with U.S. targets correlating with heavily populated areas.

The Tehran Times figure cited in the article says more than 1,230 Iranian civilians have been killed in the U.S. war on Iran.

Several experts quoted in the piece warned that Trump’s public insistence on Iranian culpability without presenting evidence risks propagating misinformation and undermining accountability.