Key facts
- A strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab, Iran, killed 156 people, including 120 children.
- The incident occurred on February 28, during the opening hours of the US-Israeli war with Iran.
- Evidence suggests US forces may have unintentionally carried out the strike.
- US media reports indicate military investigators believe outdated data may have led to the school being targeted.
- The school was adjacent to an IRGC compound that was also struck.
A BBC report has visited the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab, southern Iran, which was struck on February 28, resulting in the deaths of 156 people, including 120 children. The incident occurred during the opening hours of the US-Israeli war with Iran. Evidence suggests that US forces may have unintentionally carried out the strike, with US media reporting that military investigators believe outdated data, possibly from the US Defense Intelligence Agency, may have led to the school being mistakenly identified as a military site. The school was located next to an IRGC compound that satellite images show was also struck multiple times.
Teacher Amaineh Nademi, who taught first-grade girls at the school, described the moment of the strike, recounting how she and her students were thrown by an explosion and enveloped in thick smoke. She managed to pass injured children to safety before escaping the collapsing building. Rescue workers, including Reza Besharati from the Iranian Red Crescent Society, described finding disfigured bodies and the immense grief of families searching for their loved ones.
President Donald Trump initially blamed Iran for the incident. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that US forces do not target civilian sites and announced a higher-level investigation. The findings of the US military investigation have not yet been released. While US media reports suggest a likely unintentional strike by US forces, the head of Centcom told a congressional committee that the investigation was complex because the school was "on an active IRGC cruise missile base," a claim Iran's foreign ministry rejected as a "baseless fabrication." Historical satellite images and online information indicate the site was previously part of an IRGC complex but had been walled off since 2016 and was publicly listed as a school.