U.S. Missile Strike Kills 156 at Minab Elementary School, Makan Nasiri Still Missing

On February 28, the first day of attacks across Iran by the United States and Israel, a missile strike hit the Shajareh Tayyebeh (The Pure Tree) elementary school in Minab, in southern Iran’s Hormozgan province, killing 156 people in a final tally provided to state media on April 9 by Minab’s general prosecutor Ebrahim Taheri.

“The parents of seven-year-old Makan Nasiri are the only ones who have been unable to bury the remains of their child after his school was bombed on the first day of attacks across Iran by the United States and Israel on February 28”

Al Jazeera

The Al Jazeera account says the parents of seven-year-old Makan Nasiri are the only ones unable to bury the remains of their child after the school was bombed, and that Washington did not claim responsibility for the attack on the school.

Al Jazeera

The Kashmir Observer report adds that evidence indicates that US Tomahawk missiles hit the school, and it describes how Asieh Rahinejad received a call from a teacher urging her to pick up her son immediately shortly after 11am, before a second missile struck minutes later.

In that account, the blasts tore through classrooms and lives alike, and forensic teams worked to identify bodies that were “mutilated beyond recognition,” while DNA testing still could find no trace of Makan.

The same Kashmir Observer report says Ebrahim Taheri stated that 120 students were killed—73 boys and 47 girls—along with 26 teachers, all women, including one six months pregnant, plus seven parents, a school bus driver and a clinic technician.

Al Jazeera similarly reports that the death toll was revised down from 168 to 156, with 120 students killed, 73 boys and 47 girls, and 26 teachers, all women, including one six months pregnant, plus seven parents, a school bus driver and a technician at a nearby clinic.

While the Kashmir Observer and Al Jazeera accounts converge on the 156 figure and the missing child, other reporting in the source set describes higher totals, including “at least 175” and “at least 168” in different outlets’ formulations.

The accounts center on the absence of Makan Nasiri’s remains after the strike on the school in Minab, with both the Kashmir Observer and Al Jazeera describing a prolonged effort by his family to find him.

The Kashmir Observer says that for nearly seven weeks, his father Cyrus searched the ruins, returning “From midday on the day of the attack until the early hours of the next morning, and then again in the days and weeks that followed,” and that even after extensive DNA testing “they could find no trace of Makan.”

Anadolu Ajansi

It adds that the hope lingered until the 38th day, when Makan’s uncle found a single shoe lying some distance from the wreckage, and that a damaged blue sweater was also recovered.

Al Jazeera similarly recounts that on the 38th day of the search, Makan’s uncle found a single shoe some distance away from the main building that the family identified as belonging to him, and that a damaged blue sweater was also reportedly found.

In both accounts, the family’s inability to bury him is tied to the lack of remains, with the Kashmir Observer describing that “In the end, there was no burial. No grave to visit. No body to mourn over.”

Al Jazeera states that Iranian authorities informed Makan’s family that his case was closed without finding any remains after nearly seven weeks of search.

The Kashmir Observer and Al Jazeera both quote Makan’s mother about being “terrified by the idea of having to place Makan in the grave,” and both say the shoe was placed in a box and put in a local mosque to commemorate him.

The sources in this set present sharply different claims about who carried out the school strike in Minab, and they also differ on whether the attack was deliberate or the result of an error.

The Kashmir Observer says Washington has remained silent on the strike, but that evidence indicates that US Tomahawk missiles hit the school, and it frames the incident as part of the first day of attacks across Iran by the United States and Israel.

Al Jazeera reports that Washington did not claim responsibility for the devastating attacks on the Shajareh Tayyebeh (The Good Tree) elementary school in Minab and says evidence suggests that US Tomahawk missiles were likely used in what became the single deadliest incident involving civilians since the start of the war.

By contrast, the Arabic-language report attributed to Al Arabiya Al Jadid says U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters that Iran was the one who bombed the elementary school in Minab, adding that when asked whether the United States had carried out the deadly raid, Trump said: 'Based on what I have seen, Iran did it.'

The same report says Trump also told U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hagseth, who replied: 'We are investigating.'

Another source in the set, Al Jazeera Net, says an initial assessment reported by CBS News indicates that the United States is likely responsible for the attack on an elementary school in southern Iran, but that it did not deliberately target the school, and it says the mistaken strike may have been caused by using old intelligence that misidentified the area as still part of an Iranian military facility.

Anadolu Ajansı and Mont Carlo International both cite the New York Times, with Anadolu Ajansı saying the New York Times denied Trump’s claims and confirmed that an American missile was behind the attack, while Mont Carlo International says the New York Times reported that an ongoing military investigation holds the United States responsible for the missile strike.

The East and Xinhua-linked accounts add further detail by tying the timing of the school attack to an American strike on a base adjacent to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including a video clip published by Mehr News Agency and verified by the New York Times.

Beyond attribution, the sources describe a chain of evidence and investigation steps that attempt to connect the Minab school strike to a specific weapon and a nearby target.

Anadolu Ajansı reports that the New York Times denied Trump’s claims and confirmed that a video clip shows an American missile striking a naval base adjacent to the school, and it says the paper’s report is based on analysis of satellite images and verified video footage.

Kashmir Observer

It states that on February 28, a Tomahawk missile targeted a naval base near the Tree of Tayyiba elementary school for girls in Minab in Hormozgan Province, and it says a video clip published by Mehr News Agency and verified by the newspaper showed the missile hitting a building inside the naval base described as a medical clinic.

The East and Mont Carlo International accounts also describe the New York Times investigation as preliminary and tied to an error in identifying the target, with Mont Carlo International saying the strike resulted from an error in identifying the target by the U.S. military and that U.S. Central Command determined the target coordinates based on old data provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency.

The East report adds that the U.S. Department of Defense describes Tomahawk missiles as long-range, high-precision guided missiles capable of flying up to 1,600 kilometers, and it provides technical details including that the missile is 6.1 meters long and weighs about 1,510 kilograms.

It further says the most commonly used Tomahawk warheads contain an explosive yield of about 136 kilograms of TNT, and it describes how they are programmed with a specific flight plan before launch and then autonomously steer toward their targets.

Xinhua’s multimedia report says CNN revealed a new video showing an American airstrike hitting a building belonging to an IRGC base in the Minab area synchronized with an attack on a nearby elementary school, and it says the footage published by Mehr News Agency represents the first visual documentation of the moment the area was struck by missiles.

Xinhua also quotes Sam Lier saying the projectile matches the Tomahawk missile’s cruciform shape and that its large size rules out it being from other munitions with similar optical characteristics such as the GBU-69/B.

Even as multiple sources describe investigations and evidence pointing toward U.S. involvement, Trump’s public position in the source set remains focused on accusing Iran and on the idea that Tomahawk missiles are used by multiple countries.

“Initial assessment indicates that the United States is likely responsible for the attack on an elementary school in southern Iran, but it did not deliberately target the school”

Al-Jazeera Net

The East report says U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he still insists that Iran could be responsible for a deadly missile strike that targeted a girls’ school and killed 175 people, despite U.S. authorities saying they are still trying to determine who was responsible.

Al-Jazeera Net

It quotes Trump saying, “Well, I didn't see it, but I can tell you that a Tomahawk missile, one of the most powerful weapons out there, is also used by other countries,” and it adds that he said Iran “also has some Tomahawk missiles,” while not ruling out that they were the ones who struck the school.

The same report says Trump first raised the possibility of Iran’s responsibility last Saturday when he told reporters aboard Air Force One, “In my view and based on what I have seen, Iran is the one that carried it out.”

It also includes a statement from the Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Kaine, saying American forces were carrying out strikes in southern Iran at the time the naval base and the school were hit, and it quotes Kaine: “On the southern axis, the carrier group USS Abraham Lincoln continued to press at sea along the southeastern coast, targeting naval capabilities along the Strait.”

In parallel, Al Jazeera Net reports that the White House spokesperson responded to the CBS assessment by saying, “The investigation is ongoing,” and that she added, “there are no conclusions at this time and it is incorrect and irresponsible to claim otherwise.”

UNICEF’s role appears in Al Jazeera Net as well, with UNICEF urging all parties to protect children and schools and to fulfill their international legal responsibilities, and it notes that at least 20 schools and 10 hospitals in Iran have suffered damage.

The stakes described across the sources include the ongoing identification of casualties and the unresolved question of responsibility, while UNICEF and Iranian authorities emphasize the continuing harm to schools and children.