Everything indicates that it was the USA that killed 165 in a girls’ school in Iran

One of the “most serious incidents with civilian casualties” in decades of US military operations in the Middle East. Independent analyzes indicate that a Tomahawk, an American-made missile, hit a school adjacent to Iranian Revolutionary Guard buildings. Most of the victims were between 7 and 12 years old.

The attacks launched by the United States and Israel against Iran have already caused at least 1,230 deadaccording to data released this Tuesday morning based on information from the humanitarian group Iranian Red Crescent Society.

One of the most devastating bombings killed 165 students and employees from a girls’ primary school in the city of Minab, in the south of the country, on the first day of the war.

A Most of the victims would be girls between 7 and 12 years oldaccording to Iranian sources. The incident was condemned by UNESCO, the UN agency for culture and education, and by education activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.

Days after the incident, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio assured that American forces “would not deliberately attack a school” and stated that Washington would investigate the case.

On Saturday, US President Donald Trump blamed Iran itself for the attack. “From what I saw, [o ataque] it was done by Iran,” the president told reporters aboard Air Force One.

Asked this Monday why he was the only person in his administration to make such an accusation, Trump replied: “Because I just don’t know enough about it” and added, regarding the investigation being conducted by the American government into the incident, that “whatever the report shows, I’m willing to accept”.

What the images say

On Friday, the newspaper reported that the US was likely responsible for the attack, based on an analysis of satellite images, videos and online reports.

The newspaper and other US media outlets also reported over the weekend, citing video footage from Iranian news agency Mehr News, that the school was hit when a Tomahawk missile American apparently struck a nearby Iranian Revolutionary Guard naval base.

According to the New York Times, the The USA is the only country involved in this conflict that has this type of weaponry.

Trump, however, falsely claimed on Monday that Iran would also have “some” Tomahawk missiles. Although the company sells the missile to allied countries such as Japan and Australia, there is no evidence that Iran acquired it.

The suggestion that a Tomahawk missile may have been used is, according to the Republican, too vague to be considered evidence.

This Monday, US Senator Jeanne Shaheen and other representatives of the Democratic Party asked the head of the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, to conduct a “thorough and impartial” investigation into the incident.

“Independent analyzes credibly indicate that the attack may have been carried out by US forces,” the statement said. If confirmed, it would be one of the “most serious incidents with civilian casualties” in decades of US military operations in the Middle East.

“Probably American attack”

New images show what a specialized research group says is likely an American Tomahawk missile hitting a compound in southern Iran, just meters from the school.

Experts interviewed by the Associated Press (AP) news agency, citing analysis of satellite images, say that the school, located next to a Revolutionary Guard base, was hit during a rapid succession of bombs launched over the complex.

An American official familiar with internal deliberations on the matter told the AP anonymously that the attack was probably American.

The new images, initially analyzed by the Bellingcat research group, were captured on the day the school was hit, but released on Sunday by the semi-official Iranian news agency Mehr. The video shows a missile hitting a building, sending a dense column of dark smoke into the air.

The AP was able to geolocate the video and determine that it was recorded in a location adjacent to the school, when smoke was already rising nearby. Satellite images of the complex are consistent with the visual elements found in the video, including a flat-roofed building, electrical grids and vehicles.

Bellingcat investigator Trevor Ball identified the munition as a Tomahawk cruise missile. This is the first evidence of ammunition used in the attack. The US Central Command acknowledged the use of Tomahawk missiles in this war and even released a photograph of the USS Spruancewhich is part of the group led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, located within range of the school, to fire a Tomahawk missile on February 28.

There are other signs

Other signs also point to an attack carried out by the United States. One of them is the initiation of an assessment of the incident by the US Military. According to Pentagon guidance on processes to mitigate harm to civilians, an assessment is initiated when a group of investigators initially determines that the U.S. military may be responsible.

Another factor is the school location – right next to the Revolutionary Guard base and close to the barracks of a naval unit. The US military has focused on naval targets and has recognized attacks in the region, including one near the school.

Israel, which denied having carried out the attack, has concentrated on areas further west of Iran, closer to Israel, and has not reported any attacks south of Isfahan, located about 800 kilometers north of Minab.

The absence of images of the bomb fragments resulting from the explosion makes any assessment of the incident difficult. No independent agency arrived on the scene during the war to investigate.

Janina Dill, an international law expert at the University of Oxford, wrote on the X network that even if the attack was a misidentification — and the attacker believed the school was part of the nearby Revolutionary Guard base — it would still be “a very serious violation of international law.”

“Anyone who attacks has an obligation to do everything possible to verify the status of the target,” he wrote.

The Trump administration, however, has adopted a different tone regarding international humanitarian law. Speaking about the US operation at a press conference on March 2, Hegseth said that “the United States, regardless of what so-called international institutions say, is unleashing the most lethal and precise air power campaign in history.”

“No stupid rules of engagement,” he said, “No political correctness.”