President Donald Trump has claimed that Iran carried out a deadly bombing at a girls’ elementary school in southern Iran, but several defense officials, including his own Pentagon chief, have declined to support the assertion.
The allegation was detailed by The Intercept, which reported that multiple current and former U.S. defense officials have questioned the claim. Officials say the incident remains under investigation, and the available evidence has not confirmed Trump’s statement.
The attack, which reportedly took place in the town of Minab, resulted in at least 175 deaths according to Iranian health officials and state media reports. Many of the victims were children attending the school.
Defense officials say evidence does not support the claim
Trump made the claim on March 7, 2026, while speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One. He stated that, based on what he had seen, Iran was responsible for the bombing.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was present during the remarks, declined to confirm the president’s claim when asked directly by reporters. Hegseth said the situation was still being investigated while adding that Iran has historically targeted civilians.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, also declined to confirm the allegation. A spokesperson said it would be inappropriate to comment while the investigation remains ongoing, as the Trump midterms ultimatum continued to dominate Washington.
Several defense officials have pushed back more directly on Trump’s claim. One U.S. government official who reviewed satellite imagery of the Shajarah Tayyebeh school told reporters that the evidence does not support the idea that Iran struck the building.
Military analysis cited in the report pointed to video footage released by Iran’s semiofficial Mehr News Agency that appears to show a cruise missile striking a nearby naval base. Smoke was also visible at the school site, suggesting it was hit around the same time.
Former Special Operations joint terminal attack controller Wes Bryant identified the missile shown in the footage as a Tomahawk. He noted that the weapon is used by the United States and argued that the strike pattern suggests a highly precise operation targeting structures from above.
Bryant said the available evidence suggests the school may have been struck due to target misidentification rather than a deliberate attack on civilians. Satellite imagery analysis also found that while the school had once been connected to the nearby IRGC naval facility by roads, the two locations had been separated by 2016.
Another former Pentagon official who specializes in civilian harm analysis said the damage pattern indicates a vertical entry point consistent with a long-range precision strike rather than a short-range missile. The strike reportedly occurred within roughly an hour of the announcement of U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iranian targets and before any confirmed Iranian retaliation.
The timing has added to questions about the source of the strike as investigators review available intelligence. The broader conflict has already produced significant civilian casualties.
Iranian media outlet Tehran Times has reported more than 1,230 civilian deaths during the war, while the Iran war cost debate has also intensified in Washington. U.S. Central Command has not released an official estimate. Defense Secretary Hegseth previously stated during a March 2 press conference that the United States was conducting what he described as the most lethal and precise air campaign in history.
Independent monitoring group Airwars has also begun reviewing early strike data from the conflict. Its preliminary report indicates that the opening phase of the war involved a large number of targets in heavily populated areas.
Bryant said that if officials truly believed Iran was responsible for the school bombing, the administration would be expected to release intelligence proving it.
Published: Mar 10, 2026 01:00 pm