Investigative portal Bellingcat pointed out on Monday that a recently published video “apparently contradicts” US President Donald Trump’s claims that Tehran was responsible for an attack on an Iranian school at the start of the Middle East war that killed more than 165 people. TASR informs about it based on the report of the AP agency.
- Bellingcat disputed Trump’s claim that Iran was to blame for the attack.
- A new video suggests that the attack may have been carried out by the US military.
- The ammunition at the site was identified as a US Tomahawk.
- No independent agencies investigated the attack.
- The US confirmed the use of Tomahawks, but Trump denies the blame.
The portal thus points to the guilt of the US for the attack on February 28, which hit a school adjacent to the base of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Minab in the province of Hormozgan in the south of the country. According to an analysis of satellite images, experts cited by the AP say the school was likely hit during a rapid succession of bombs dropped on the campus.
The video shared by Bellingcat is a three-second clip taken on the day of the attack. It was spread by Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency on Sunday. The video shows munitions hitting the building, with a dark cloud rising into the air, mixing with smoke likely from previous attacks on the campus. Bellingcat researcher Trevor Ball located the video to an area near the school, as did the AP.
The attack was not investigated by independent agencies
Ball identified the munition as a Tomahawk cruise missile known only to be possessed by the United States in this war. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) admitted the use of Tomahawk missiles in the Middle East war and even that the US destroyer USS Spruance fired a Tomahawk missile on February 28.
Any assessment of the incident is complicated by the lack of images of the bomb fragments from the explosion, AP writes. Moreover, during the fighting, no independent agency reached the spot to investigate the attack.
Asked by reporters whether the US was responsible for the attack on the school, which killed mostly children, Trump said without providing any evidence: “No, in my opinion, based on what I’ve seen, Iran did it.” Trump added that Iran is being “very inaccurate” about its munitions. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in this regard that the US is investigating the case.
Meanwhile, an unnamed US official told AP that the attack on the school was probably carried out by the Americans. The girl’s school in question is located right next to the base of the Revolutionary Guards and near the barracks of the naval unit. The US military has targeted naval targets and confirmed attacks in the province, including one near a school. Israel, which denied the attack, targeted areas of Iran closer to Israel and reported no attacks south of Isfahan, which is 800 kilometers away.
