AP probe finds US knew quickly of fatal strike on Iran school in Minab
An AP reconstruction says US officials quickly had evidence a strike hit a school in Minab. The episode has intensified questions over civilian deaths, targeting failures and accountability.
More than four months after a US missile struck an Iranian primary school during the US-Israeli war against Iran, there is still no final account of what happened in what was reported to be the deadliest strike of the conflict. Most of those killed were children, but the full toll remains unclear.
An Associated Press reconstruction, based on interviews with US officials, human rights workers and Iranians in direct contact with rescuers and victims' families, found that the US military had evidence almost immediately that the site had been hit. Most of those interviewed asked not to be identified for fear of retribution. The Trump administration has not directly accepted blame. Asked last week about the strike, President Donald Trump said he had seen nothing to make him believe the US was responsible. Iran's mission to the United Nations did not respond to AP's request for comment.
The strike took place on the morning of Saturday, February 28, in the city of Minab. Students were arriving at the Shajareh Tayyebeh school, one of several schools in Iran set up for children from families linked to the Revolutionary Guard or other state institutions, according to Shiva Amelirad, the international representative of an Iranian teachers' union who taught in Iran for 18 years and has been in contact with people in Minab. She said, "Regardless of the students' family backgrounds, children are civilians and any attack targeting a school is unequivocally condemnable."
Satellite imagery reviewed by AP showed the school building was inside the same compound as a Revolutionary Guard base. It had earlier been used as a Guard building before being fenced off and turned into a school more than a decade ago. According to a local rights group, some of the students were children of Guard officers, while others were local children from the Baluch community, a majority-Sunni ethnic minority that is often repressed by the Iranian government.
Two people said hundreds of students were inside when bombs began falling on Tehran, prompting school staff to call parents and ask them to collect their children early. A father who lived nearby rushed to pick up his son, according to a Minab resident who relayed several families' accounts. The man saw young relatives waiting for their parents and offered to take them home, but they refused.
About 10 minutes later, bombs struck at least five buildings in the compound, according to satellite imagery. At least one of the blasts brought down the neighbouring school. The father rushed back to the site, where men were digging through smoking rubble for bodies, according to video of the aftermath circulated by state media. He saw burned bodies that he believed were those of his relatives. Rescuers found a tiny arm hanging in the rubble. A man from a nearby Sunni village who came looking for his nephew found him dead there.
The Balochistan Human Rights Group said bodies reached the local hospital in pieces. By the end of the day, doctors there estimated they had received at least 108 bodies, though they warned the number was likely low, the Minab resident said. State media later reported a toll of 168.
As the bombardment continued, journalists and rights groups struggled to verify details from Minab. Restrictions imposed by the Iranian government kept most foreign journalists out of the country. Iran had also shut down the internet. The Strait of Hormuz had become a major battlefield, and all branches of Iran's military were heavily deployed in the area, the Minab resident said, adding to families' fears about speaking out.
As questions over the death toll remained, attention turned to who was responsible. Iran blamed the US, while Trump blamed Iran. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon was investigating. A US official with knowledge of the situation told AP that the military knew after the blast that it had carried out strikes in the area, although it took time to verify Iranian claims that a school had been hit and to begin an investigation.
The official said one analyst had identified the building as a school as early as seven years ago, but that finding was not adequately shared across intelligence and military teams. As a result, those developing targets did not know the building was a school, pointing to possible gaps in target analysis and review. Much of the investigation has now been completed, and the military is reviewing the findings.
Even now, there is no complete list of those killed. The most detailed effort so far has come from Airwars, which has identified 157 dead, including 123 children and 34 adults. Among the adults were 26 school staff members and five parents, each of whom lost at least one child in the strike. The strike on the Minab school remains without a final public accounting, even months after it happened.
With PTI Inputs
More than four months after a US missile struck an Iranian primary school during the US-Israeli war against Iran, there is still no final account of what happened in what was reported to be the deadliest strike of the conflict. Most of those killed were children, but the full toll remains unclear.
An Associated Press reconstruction, based on interviews with US officials, human rights workers and Iranians in direct contact with rescuers and victims' families, found that the US military had evidence almost immediately that the site had been hit. Most of those interviewed asked not to be identified for fear of retribution. The Trump administration has not directly accepted blame. Asked last week about the strike, President Donald Trump said he had seen nothing to make him believe the US was responsible. Iran's mission to the United Nations did not respond to AP's request for comment.
The strike took place on the morning of Saturday, February 28, in the city of Minab. Students were arriving at the Shajareh Tayyebeh school, one of several schools in Iran set up for children from families linked to the Revolutionary Guard or other state institutions, according to Shiva Amelirad, the international representative of an Iranian teachers' union who taught in Iran for 18 years and has been in contact with people in Minab. She said, "Regardless of the students' family backgrounds, children are civilians and any attack targeting a school is unequivocally condemnable."
Satellite imagery reviewed by AP showed the school building was inside the same compound as a Revolutionary Guard base. It had earlier been used as a Guard building before being fenced off and turned into a school more than a decade ago. According to a local rights group, some of the students were children of Guard officers, while others were local children from the Baluch community, a majority-Sunni ethnic minority that is often repressed by the Iranian government.
Two people said hundreds of students were inside when bombs began falling on Tehran, prompting school staff to call parents and ask them to collect their children early. A father who lived nearby rushed to pick up his son, according to a Minab resident who relayed several families' accounts. The man saw young relatives waiting for their parents and offered to take them home, but they refused.
About 10 minutes later, bombs struck at least five buildings in the compound, according to satellite imagery. At least one of the blasts brought down the neighbouring school. The father rushed back to the site, where men were digging through smoking rubble for bodies, according to video of the aftermath circulated by state media. He saw burned bodies that he believed were those of his relatives. Rescuers found a tiny arm hanging in the rubble. A man from a nearby Sunni village who came looking for his nephew found him dead there.
The Balochistan Human Rights Group said bodies reached the local hospital in pieces. By the end of the day, doctors there estimated they had received at least 108 bodies, though they warned the number was likely low, the Minab resident said. State media later reported a toll of 168.
As the bombardment continued, journalists and rights groups struggled to verify details from Minab. Restrictions imposed by the Iranian government kept most foreign journalists out of the country. Iran had also shut down the internet. The Strait of Hormuz had become a major battlefield, and all branches of Iran's military were heavily deployed in the area, the Minab resident said, adding to families' fears about speaking out.
As questions over the death toll remained, attention turned to who was responsible. Iran blamed the US, while Trump blamed Iran. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon was investigating. A US official with knowledge of the situation told AP that the military knew after the blast that it had carried out strikes in the area, although it took time to verify Iranian claims that a school had been hit and to begin an investigation.
The official said one analyst had identified the building as a school as early as seven years ago, but that finding was not adequately shared across intelligence and military teams. As a result, those developing targets did not know the building was a school, pointing to possible gaps in target analysis and review. Much of the investigation has now been completed, and the military is reviewing the findings.
Even now, there is no complete list of those killed. The most detailed effort so far has come from Airwars, which has identified 157 dead, including 123 children and 34 adults. Among the adults were 26 school staff members and five parents, each of whom lost at least one child in the strike. The strike on the Minab school remains without a final public accounting, even months after it happened.
With PTI Inputs
