New video appears to confirm US airstrike on IRGC base adjacent to Minab school
A newly emerged video appears to show a US airstrike targeting a building at the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval base adjacent to an elementary school in Minab, where Iranian state media says more than 160 girls were killed on February 28.
The video, posted on Mehr News, a semi-official Iranian news agency, is the first to show missiles striking the area, and adds to a body of evidence that appears to contradict claims by US President Donald Trump casting blame on Iran.
In the footage, filmed from a nearby construction site, a munition consistent with an American BGM or UGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is seen before it strikes a location inside the IRGC base. The US Navy operates Tomahawks, launching them from its surface ships and submarines. Israel does not operate the Tomahawk missile, according to experts.
As the camera pans to the right, a huge plume of smoke is seen from the direction of the Shajareh Tayyiba school. Dozens of people can be seen in the foreground running away from the strikes.
Sam Lair, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, told CNN the munition in the video is consistent with a US Tomahawk Land Attack Missile:
Other weapons experts consulted by CNN agreed with this assessment and added that TLAMs are often used in opening salvos before air supremacy is achieved. It was not immediately clear which exact building was struck, but an analysis by CNN suggested that it hit a building within or immediately next to a medical clinic operated by the IRGC at the base.
Last week, investigations by CNN and other media outlets suggested the US was likely responsible for the strike. Satellite imagery, geolocated videos, public statements from US officials and the assessment of munitions experts suggest that the school was hit at around the same time as an attack that American forces likely carried out on a neighboring IRGC naval base.
The new video shows smoke nearby at the time of the strike, suggesting nearby sites may also have been targeted shortly before. “The geolocated video shows a cruise missile hitting one of the centrally located buildings at the base,” said Lair. He added that while the video does not show the moment of impact on the school, it “was likely part of the same strike and would have been accompanied by other, similar cruise missiles.”
CNN is continuing efforts to obtain images of the remnants of the munition that hit the school. Such evidence is key in assessing responsibility for a strike, and without it, assessments cannot be conclusive.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday that the US was still investigating the strike.
