Verified images show Tomahawk near military base in Minab; attack left 175 people dead, many of them children
A video released on Sunday (March 8, 2026) by the Iranian agency reinforces evidence that a United States missile hit an elementary school in the city of Minab, in southern Iran. The attack reportedly left 175 people dead, many of them children, according to local authorities and Iranian press outlets.
The images were verified by the newspaper, which compared the material with satellite records, videos published on social media and other visual elements captured after the bombings. Footage shows a Tomahawk cruise missile hitting a naval base near the Shajarah Tayyebeh school on February 28.
The moment when Israeli and American terrorists struck school
— Mehr News Agency (@MehrnewsCom)
According to the North American newspaper’s analysis, the moment of impact coincides with the period in which the school was hit.
The school building appears severely damaged in satellite images taken days later. The military base hit in the same attack is operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The missile identified in the video is of the Tomahawk type, a long-range weapon used by the United States Navy. Neither Israel nor Iran operate this type of equipment. Weapons experts, including Trevor Ball, a researcher linked to the Bellingcat research collective, and Chris Cobb-Smith, director of the security company Chiron Resources, also said they recognized the projectile as a Tomahawk.
According to the US Department of Defense, these missiles can travel around 1,600 km and are programmed with specific routes before launch. The most used model carries warheads with a power equivalent to around 136 kg of TNT.
The video analyzed shows the projectile hitting a building described as a medical clinic inside the military base. After the explosion, columns of smoke and debris are thrown into the air, while screams can be heard in the background. When the camera moves to the right, there are already large clouds of dust and smoke in the school area, which indicates that the school building was hit shortly before.
The President of the United States, Donald Trump (Republican Party), denied that US forces bombed the school: “No. In my opinion and from what I saw, this was done by Iran. They are very inaccurate with their ammunition.”
Alongside him, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that the Pentagon is investigating the case, but declared that “the only side that targets civilians is Iran”.
Despite the statements, the US military has already acknowledged that US forces were carrying out attacks in the south of the country during that period. Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an interview with reporters that U.S. Navy ships, including the aircraft carrier strike group USS Abraham Lincolnconducted operations along the Iranian coast in the early hours of the war.
The Secretary-General of the UN (United Nations), António Guterres, the death of children in attacks against schools and called for an immediate end to hostilities.
In Iran, newspapers printed photos of the victims on their covers and held the US government responsible. One of the newspapers published a message addressed to the US president: “”.
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