On the very first day of the conflict, an Iranian girls school located in Minab suffered a direct and devastating strike, resulting in the destruction of the building and a tragic loss of young lives. This school, known as Shajareh Tayyebeh, had maintained an active online presence for several years, showcasing numerous photos of students engaged in various educational and recreational activities. The attack, which also impacted at least six other structures within a nearby military compound, has raised serious concerns about the accuracy and vetting processes used by the American military when selecting strike targets.
Investigations within the U.S. Department of Defense have pointed toward the likelihood that American forces were responsible for the bombing. Emerging evidence suggests that outdated targeting information may have played a critical role in the erroneous strike. The Shajareh Tayyebeh School, separated from the adjacent military base by a wall adorned with colorful murals, was the northernmost building hit during the barrage on February 28. The strike obliterated the school, with Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, reporting that approximately 150 students lost their lives. While this figure has not been independently verified, the Iranian Red Crescent has cited a death toll reaching as high as 175.
Satellite images dating back to 2018 reveal the school’s distinctive brightly colored walls, which remained visible in archived versions of its website as recently as 2025. These archives included images of girls dressed uniformly in pink and white, both in classrooms and during playtime. The school was also listed on a local business directory, further confirming its civilian and educational nature. Additional satellite photos taken in the months leading up to the strike showed clear playground markings, reinforcing the fact that this was indeed a school. The cluster of buildings targeted appeared to have been hit by multiple munitions, including at least one American Tomahawk cruise missile, as deduced from satellite data, videos, and photographs of the aftermath.
Video footage capturing the moment of impact shows a plume of smoke rising from the targeted buildings, consistent with the detonation of a Tomahawk missile. Subsequent satellite imagery revealed evidence of at least seven separate explosions along a stretch of approximately 325 meters, including the complete destruction of the school, a roof punctured by a large hole, and a flattened structure nearby. In a statement made on Monday, then U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that Iran might possess Tomahawk missiles, although he did not provide any supporting evidence for this assertion. The Pentagon has acknowledged that the strike is under investigation but has refrained from commenting on the school’s online footprint, the satellite imagery, or the rationale behind selecting the Minab compound as a target.
Two anonymous sources have indicated that the use of outdated targeting data could be responsible for the tragic error, a detail initially reported by the New York Times. Mark Cancian, a retired U.S. Marine officer and defense analyst affiliated with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, explained that the U.S. Central Command likely maintains a long-standing list of potential targets in the event of hostilities with Iran. He emphasized the importance of regularly reviewing and updating these target lists to prevent such mistakes. The fact that only the school and six buildings within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) compound were struck within a five-kilometer radius between February 28 and March 2 suggests these locations were deliberately targeted rather than being collateral damage from a wider bombing campaign.
Minab, situated near the strategic Strait of Hormuz and surrounded by agricultural fields, hosts one of the IRGC’s largest missile bases, Iranian state media. Satellite analysis comparing images before and after the strike detected significant changes consistent with destruction and upheaval. Notably, on March 2, satellite data also showed disturbances at the town cemetery, where rows of freshly dug graves appeared—presumed to be the final resting place for the children who perished in the attack.
The Shajareh Tayyebeh School was part of the Persian Gulf Martyrs’ Cultural Educational Institute, a network of 59 schools affiliated with the IRGC, which answers directly to Iran’s supreme leader. Archived versions of the network’s website include photos of students gathered in the schoolyard, matching footage taken after the strike. Some schools in this network, including both the girls’ and boys’ schools in Minab, were located within or adjacent to IRGC-controlled areas. The girls’ school’s address was listed as “Resalat Blvd, Alley No. 9, behind Asef Brigade,” the latter being a missile unit under the IRGC navy’s command. The boys’ school shared the same address but was situated on the side of the building that remained intact after the attack. Images comparing pre- and post-strike conditions show debris scattered over desks where students had once studied.
In the early stages of the war, the United States publicized its use of Tomahawk missiles in strikes against Iranian targets, including on February 28, the day the school was hit. Photographs and videos released by the U.S. Navy documented Tomahawk missile launches from the USS Spruance, a guided-missile destroyer. These missiles, which can be launched from both surface vessels and submarines, are a key component of U.S. naval strike capabilities. On the same day, the semi-official Mehr news agency released footage showing the moment one of the buildings within the IRGC compound was struck. The attack reportedly occurred around 10:45 a.m. local time, with smoke visible from earlier strikes already lingering in the area.
Experts who reviewed the attack footage largely agreed that the missile involved was a Tomahawk, although one suggested the possibility of a glide bomb. Joost Oliemans, a conflict analyst based in the Netherlands, concluded that the missile was American-made, noting that while several countries possess similar weapons, neither Israel nor Iran are among them. Joseph Dempsey, a military analyst from London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies, also identified the weapon as a type of Tomahawk but did not dismiss the possibility of an unknown missile variant.
During a March 4 Pentagon press briefing, U.S. military officials shared a map highlighting locations targeted in Iran, marking Minab with a red diamond, although the city was not named explicitly. On March 5, the Tehran Times published photographs of what it described as remnants of an American missile that struck the elementary school in Minab. Digital forensics analysis conducted by Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, confirmed the authenticity of these images, finding no signs of manipulation or artificial generation. The missile fragments shown closely resemble parts of Tomahawk missiles previously recovered and documented by various international monitoring organizations.
