PARIS, March 12 — Iran has accused the United States and Israel of conducting a deadly missile attack on a school on the first day of the Middle East war.
Israel has denied any connection to the strike and The New York Times reported yesterday that it resulted from a targeting mistake by the US military.
AFP has been unable to access the location of the strike to independently verify the circumstances around it or the toll reported by Iranian media.
Iranian authorities must grant explicit approval to foreign media organisations wishing to report outside Tehran.
Here is what we know about the strike:
What Iran says
The strike and an initial toll were first reported by Iranian media citing the governor of Minab, a county in southern Iran, on February 28.
That was the first day of US-Israeli strikes on Iran, which also killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The reported toll climbed swiftly and, according to state media, funerals were held for at least 165 people including slain students.
State television carried images showing a large crowd of mourners weeping over what appeared to be bodies wrapped in white shrouds.
Other images released by state media showed individuals preparing coffins draped in the Iranian flag — some bearing photographs of children.
AFP has been unable to independently verify the date the images were taken or access the location to verify their content.
President Masoud Pezeshkian blamed the United States and Israel for the strike.
What Washington says
US President Donald Trump initially suggested Iran itself may have been responsible but later said he could “live with” whatever the investigation reveals.
The New York Times reported yesterday that the school was hit by a US Tomahawk missile because of a targeting mistake.
The newspaper, citing US officials, said the investigation was ongoing, but preliminary findings were that the United States was responsible.
The US military was conducting strikes on an adjacent Iranian base of which the school building was formerly a part and target coordinates were set using outdated data, it said.
Asked by reporters about the Times report, Trump said: “I don’t know about it.”
The Times said US Central Command officers created the target coordinates for the strike using outdated data provided by the Defence Intelligence Agency.
The newspaper said the school is on the same block as buildings used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s navy and the site of the school was originally part of the base.
It said the building housing the school had been fenced off from the base between 2013 and 2016.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week the United States would not intentionally target a school.
What Israel says
Israel has consistently denied any involvement in or knowledge of the strike.
“We have checked multiple times and have found no connection between the IDF and whatever happened in that school,” Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said.
Where is the school?
Norway-based rights group Hengaw said the school was holding its morning session at the time of the strike and about 170 students were present.
Footage filmed from a parking lot showed black smoke billowing from a damaged building adorned with colourful murals.
AFP has geolocated the clip to a building in Minab, though it has not been able to independently verify the nature of the site.
AFP has confirmed the building was located in close proximity to two sites controlled by the Revolutionary Guards.
The Shahid Absalan clinic, under the supervision of the Guards navy’s medical command, lies 238 metres from the site, while the Seyed al-Shohada IRGC cultural complex is 286 metres away.
AFP could not independently verify the date the footage from the car park was filmed. — AFP
Iran school strike: Competing claims and what we know so far
