US likely responsible for deadly Iran school strike, New York Times probe finds

US likely responsible for deadly Iran school strike, New York Times probe finds



People prepare the body for a burial as they attend the funeral of the victims following a reported strike on a school, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Minab, Iran, March 3, 2026. — Amirhossein Khorgooei/ISNA/WANA (West Asia News Agency) handout pic via Reuters

Friday, 06 Mar 2026 8:13 PM MYT


WASHINGTON, March 6 — The United States is most likely responsible for a strike that reportedly killed scores of people at an elementary school in southern Iran, according to a New York Times investigation.

The February 28 strike hit an elementary school in the Iranian town of Minab and killed at least 150 people, according to Iranian officials.


Neither Israel nor the United States has claimed responsibility for the attack, which was in close proximity to sites controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

The US Department of Defense has said it is investigating the incident.


The New York Times reported on Thursday that US military statements indicating forces were attacking naval targets near the Strait of Hormuz, where an IRGC base is located, “suggest they were most likely to have carried out the strike.”


An analysis of social media posts from the time of the attack, as well as photos and videos from witnesses, indicated that the Shajare Tayyebeh elementary school was struck at the same time as a Revolutionary Guards’ naval base sites, the Times said.

Two unidentified US officials told Reuters that military investigators “believe it is likely” that US forces were responsible for the strike.


AFP has been unable to reach the location to independently verify the toll or the circumstances of the attack.

General Dan Caine, the top US military officer, said on Wednesday that the United States was carrying out strikes along southern Iran at the time.

A map he presented, the Times reported, indicated an area including Minab had been targeted by strikes in the first 100 hours of the operation.

Caine noted that Israel had mainly been operating further north in Iran.

The school was at one point part of the IRGC’s naval base, according to satellite images from 2013 reviewed by the Times.

However, the paper said publicly available historical satellite imagery “shows the structure bears the hallmarks of a school, including a sports field and other recreational areas that were added over time.”

“Given the US’s intelligence capabilities, they should have known that a school was in the vicinity,” Beth Van Schaack, a former State Department official who teaches at Stanford University’s Center for Human Rights and International Justice, told the Times.

The Norway-based rights group Hengaw said the school was holding its morning session at the time of the attack and reportedly had about 170 students present.

Asked Wednesday whether the United States was involved in the strike, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt replied: “Not that we know of.” — AFP

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Iran has been known to be a notorious revenger, considering it was responsible for the Lockerbie bombing which was in retaliation for the American Navy warship, the USS Vincennes, shooting down an Iranian civilian airliner over the Persian Gulf on 3 July 1988. All 290 on board the aircraft were killed, among them 66 children. The plane was flying a scheduled service from Bandar Abbas in Iran to Dubai but was mistakenly identified as "hostile" by the US ship.

Though a Libyan was held responsible and jailed in Scotland for his "crime", it was the Iranians who plotted, masterminded and funded the bombing. The wanks were more than happy to see the Libyan scapegoat being jailed as they were not too keen to deal with the Persians. Wikipedia has the entire story of the circus beating around the main alleged Libyan culprit, Abdelbaset Ali Mohamed al-Megrahi.

So watch out for a likely Iranian revenge.