Video shows US missile hit Iranian school, contradicting Trump's denial

A newly emerged video has provided further evidence that the United States was responsible for a deadly strike on an Iranian primary school, contradicting claims by US President Donald Trump that Iran itself caused the incident.

The footage, released by Iranian news agency Mehr and geolocated by investigative collective Bellingcat, shows a US Tomahawk missile striking an Iranian naval base adjacent to Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab on the morning of February 28, when US-Israeli strikes on Iran began.

The attack demolished approximately half the school, killing more than 168 people, mostly children aged seven to 12 who were attending morning classes.

Combined with other verified evidence including aftermath photos, satellite imagery and videos confirmed by the Guardian, the new footage indicates the school was hit during a set of US strikes targeting an adjacent Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps naval compound.

The evidence directly contradicts statements made by President Trump on Sunday, who claimed without offering proof that Iran was responsible. "In my opinion, based on what I've seen, that was done by Iran," Trump said. "They're very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions. They have no accuracy whatsoever. It was done by Iran."

NR Jenzen-Jones, director of Armament Research Services, an intelligence consultancy specialising in munitions analysis, said: "The video shows a Tomahawk missile striking a target. Given the belligerents, that indicates it is a US strike, as Israel is not known to possess Tomahawk missiles."

He added that contrary to claims circulating online, the munition was clearly not an Iranian Soumar missile, which has a distinctive external engine located towards the rear underside of the munition.

Satellite imagery of the aftermath shows at least four buildings were hit in the strikes: the school and three buildings in the IRGC compound. Although the primary school building was once part of the wider IRGC complex, it had been walled off from the compound for at least eight years and bore clear markers of being an educational facility, including playing fields and colourful wall murals visible in satellite images.

US military spokespeople have said they are "investigating" the strike. UNESCO has described the school bombing as a "grave violation" of international law, and Human Rights Watch has called for it to be investigated as a war crime.