Donald Trump insisted that an airstrike on a girls’ school in southern Iran that killed at least 175 people, including children, was carried out by Tehran, despite analysis pointing to the U.S. military being responsible.
“No. In my opinion, based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran,” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One Saturday. “We think it was done by Iran because they’re very inaccurate as you know with their munitions. They have no accuracy whatsoever.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was standing behind the president, added that they were “still investigating” the origin of the strike but reiterated: “The only side that targets civilians is Iran.”
“It was done by Iran,” Trump repeated, more confidently.
Neither side has yet claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on February 28 in the town of Minab.
The White House has remained vague and defensive on the school strike, despite growing speculation about who was behind it. On Wednesday, Karoline Leavitt was also asked if the U.S. was responsible, replying, “not that I know of.”
However, evidence assembled by The New York Times, including satellite imagery, social media posts and videos that it has independently verified, suggests that the school was hit during a strike at the same time as U.S. attacks on nearby buildings.
Official statements from the Pentagon confirmed that it was carrying out strikes on a naval base operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which was adjacent to the school.
Exact determinations on the perpetrator of the attack have been hindered by the lack of visible weapon fragments from the satellite images and the fact that independent journalists are unable to reach the scene.
The strikes were reported online close to 11.30 a.m. local time, with social posts including photos and videos of the damaged building verified to have been taken within the same timeframe.
With the help of geolocation experts, The Times was able to verify that large plumes of smoke seen in the video at that time originated from the base and the school.
In addition, satellite pictures ordered by the outlet also corroborate the timeline and show how the base and school were hit with multiple precision airstrikes.
Wes J. Bryant, a national security analyst who served in the U.S. Air Force and was a senior adviser on civilian harm at the Pentagon, told The Times that the most likely explanation for the destruction was a “target misidentification” and that those conducting the strikes had not realized there were civilians inside the building.
Theories that the destruction could have been caused by a faulty Iranian missile have been previously dismissed on the grounds that a single munition could not cause such a high level of damage.
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