On February 28, the first day of the US-Israeli war with Iran, a girls’ school was destroyed in the Iranian city of Minab. As a result, according to authorities. He died At least 165 people. Most of them are students of the school where classes were being held at the time of the accident. Journalists were unable to independently confirm the number of casualties.
United Nations and last International organizations condemned the strike. Tehran blamed the United States and Israel for this. Donald Trump, in turn, said, “The Iranians did it.” But the preliminary results of the investigation launched by the US military, as well as the conclusions of experts and journalists, indicate that it was the United States that struck the school in Minab.
There are many arguments in favor of this version.
School website
The Taiba Tree School for Girls was located on the other side of the fence from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base, which was also bombed. This base includes the facilities of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s naval forces. male Iranian AP Farzin Nadimi, a specialist in the Islamic Republic’s army.
Satellite images He bears witness The school building was once part of the base, but 10 years ago it was separated from it by a fence. Over time, multi-colored fences and a sports field also appeared around the building, which can be seen from a satellite.
In a conversation with the Associated Press, Nadimi suggested that the daughters of Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers could study in this school. But even if that were the case, that did not make the school a legitimate military target. It remained a civilian target, says Alice Becker, a senior staff attorney at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington.
The targeted nature of the strike
Damage to the school building and nearby buildings at the IRGC base indicates that they were subjected to targeted, almost simultaneous air strikes. male CNN weapons and ammunition expert NR Jensen Jones. Former British Army officer and bomb disposal expert Sean Moorhouse told the AP that the numerous precision strikes disprove the idea that a faulty Iranian air defense missile may have destroyed the school.
US Army area of operations
March 4, Pentagon Show A map of targets struck by the United States and Israel in Iran in the first 100 hours of the war. Although the city of Minab is not marked on the map, one of the symbols depicting the American-Israeli strikes was located in the area of this city. Meanwhile, there was no symbol indicating Iranian retaliatory strikes next to it. male Guardian edition.
Reuters I mentionedThe American and Israeli forces divided their attacks in Iran according to geography and type of targets. Israel attacked missile launch pads in northern Iran. The United States attacked similar targets (in addition to naval facilities, including the Iranian Revolutionary Guard base in Minab) in the south of the country.
IDF Press Office maleThe Israeli army did not conduct operations in the Minab region.
Video of a Tomahawk missile
March 8, Iranian Mehr News Agency published A video clip allegedly showing the moment of the bombing of Al-Shajara Al-Tayebah School. Investigators from Bellingcat, “BBC” and Sky News He confirmed that the video was actually filmed near the school.
They also identified an American Tomahawk missile that fell somewhere in the area of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard base. CNN He believesThe missile hit the clinic at the base or one of the buildings near it (the school was located hundreds of meters from the clinic). USA only user “Tomahawk” in this conflict – neither Iran nor Israel possess these missiles.
Evidence from sources
According to the preliminary findings of US military investigators investigating the attack on Al-Shajara Al-Tayeb School, the US military is responsible for it. This was reported by sources on March 5 ReutersMarch 6 — APOn March 9, this information was confirmed by CBS interviewers. According to them, the Americans struck the school by mistake – most likely due to the use of old intelligence data, according to which the school building was considered part of the base of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
The final results of the investigation conducted by the US Army have not yet been published. Trump administration officials refuse to confirm or deny that the school was targeted by the United States. confirmation Only that the US military will not intentionally attack civilian targets.