The United States government has denied carrying out a missile strike that reportedly killed about 175 people, most of them children, near a girls’ school in southern Iran.
The incident occurred on February 28 in Minab, a town close to the strategic Strait of Hormuz, during the first day of coordinated airstrikes by the United States and Israel on targets in Iran.
Video footage circulating online appears to show a Tomahawk missile striking a compound belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps located next to a girls’ school. The blast reportedly affected the nearby school, leading to heavy civilian casualties.
However, U.S. President Donald Trump rejected claims that American forces were responsible for the strike.
“In my opinion, based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran,” Trump told reporters.
Also reacting to the incident, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said authorities were still examining the circumstances surrounding the attack.
“We are investigating the strike, adding that Iran has a history of targeting civilians,”Hegseth said.
The incident has intensified scrutiny over the military operations in the region and raised concerns about the growing humanitarian toll of the escalating conflict.