Footage has emerged that appears to present a US missile concentrating on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval base adjoining to the school the place Iranian state media say scores of youngsters have been killed.
A brand new video, posted on Mehr News, a semi-official Iranian information company, is the primary to present missiles hanging the realm in Minab, southern Iran, on February 28.
The footage, which was filmed from a close-by development web site, exhibits a munition that consultants mentioned is in line with an American BGM or UGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) hanging a location contained in the IRGC base.
New video appears to confirm US airstrike on IRGC base adjoining to Minab school
As the digicam pans to the best, an enormous plume of smoke might be seen from the path of the Shajareh Tayyiba school, the place no less than 168 kids and 14 academics have been killed, in accordance to Iranian state media.
This provides to a physique of proof that seemingly contradicts President Donald Trump’s claims that Iran was accountable for the assault, and tallies with NCS reporting, knowledgeable evaluation and different shops that discovered the United States navy was possible accountable for the strike on the school.
“Based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran,” Trump informed reporters Saturday, characterizing Iranian munitions as “very inaccurate.”
His administration has been extra cautious about instantly attributing blame for the strike. When requested by a reporter whether or not Trump’s claims have been true, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth mentioned, “We’re certainly investigating, but the only side that targets civilians is Iran,” whereas, earlier than Trump’s assertion, the White House had not dominated out that US navy carried out the strike.
The US Department of Defense didn’t instantly reply to questions on the usage of a Tomahawk missile on Sunday. When beforehand requested concerning the strikes, US Central Command informed NCS that “it would be inappropriate to comment given the incident is under investigation.”
Sam Lair, a analysis affiliate on the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, informed NCS the munition in the video is in line with a US Tomahawk.
“First, it fits the visual characteristics of a TLAM,” he mentioned. “The cruciform shape with centrally mounted wings and a tailkit at the back. Second, the video was taken about 250 meters (820 feet) from the likely impact point. That means the munition has to be large. This rules out other munitions in the US stockpile with similar visual characteristics like the GBU-69B.”
Other weapons consultants consulted by NCS agreed with this evaluation and added that TLAMs are sometimes used in opening salvos earlier than air supremacy is achieved. It was not instantly clear which actual constructing was struck, however an evaluation by NCS urged that it hit a constructing inside or instantly next to a medical clinic operated by the IRGC on the base.
Only the US Navy, not Israel, operates Tomahawk missiles, launching them from its floor ships and submarines, consultants mentioned.
A earlier NCS evaluation of satellite tv for pc imagery, geolocated movies, public statements from US officers and the evaluation of munitions consultants concluded Friday that the US was possible accountable for the strike.
At the time, NCS had not been ready to look at any photos of remnants of the weapons used in the assault, which it could usually present to munitions consultants to assess their windfall.
NCS is continuous efforts to get hold of photos of the remnants of the munition that hit the school. Such proof is vital in assessing duty for a strike, and with out it, assessments can’t be conclusive.
Still, different proof suggests US duty for the strike, which occurred Saturday morning, the primary day of the working and school week in Iran.
Videos geolocated by NCS present that the school was struck at or across the similar time because the base, with one exhibiting smoke billowing each from the IRGC facility and the school constructing.
Satellite imagery from 2013 confirmed that the school and the IRGC base have been as soon as a part of the identical compound. But photos from 2016 revealed {that a} fence had been erected to separate the school from the remainder of the base, and {that a} separate entrance to the school had been constructed. In December 2025, imagery confirmed dozens of individuals in the school’s courtyard, apparently taking part in in what appears to be a court docket for ballgames.
N.R. Jenzen-Jones, a munitions knowledgeable and the director of Armament Research Services (ARES), informed NCS that the satellite tv for pc imagery and movies “paint a picture of multiple simultaneous or near-simultaneous strikes” hitting each the IRGC compound and the school.
Initially, hypothesis swirled on-line that the blast on the school may have been attributable to misfiring Iranian air defenses, because the IRGC tried to repel incoming air strikes.
But Jenzen-Jones mentioned that clarification was unlikely, since latest imagery of the naval base confirmed the buildings had sustained important injury, suggesting that they had been struck with air-delivered precision-guided munitions, slightly than “air defense missiles that have gone awry.”
“We’re seeing targeted strikes that look like they’re intended to disable those buildings. That’s the most likely outcome,” he added.
Jenzen-Jones additionally mentioned that navy bases such because the one at Minab would typically be among the many “pre-planned targets” to be struck in the opening exchanges of a battle.
US officers have confirmed that the US has struck navy targets in southern Iran. In a briefing Wednesday, Gen. Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, offered a map that plotted American and Israeli strikes on Iran over the primary 100 hours of the struggle. He mentioned Israel had largely struck northern Iran whereas the US had focused the south.