The Bombing of the Shajareh Tayyebeh Girls School in Minab, Iran

[NoParty]

I am not happy that ~2.5 days after the horrific slaughter (140-175 mostly school girls) at the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls school,
our government is saying virtually nothing about whether or not they (or their co-attackers, Israel) did it.

Normally, citizens giving the gov the benefit-of-the-doubt would be appropriate, for awhile, because of the fog of war.
But with the sketchy track record of the current administration, one has to wonder if they already know,
but are delaying telling the truth, as it might cost them some of the small percentage percentage of Americans who think
this war of choice is a good idea... Severed arms and legs of innocent little girls are pretty tough optics to sell...
Let's see if Fox News can sell it to MAGA...

ETA: Link to USA Today asking same thing...
"The Pentagon says it is reviewing the incident, but so far it has not publicly committed
to a formal investigation, disciplinary action or other accountability measures."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...chool-attack-human-rights-groups/88949676007/

 

[Gary C]

Normally, citizens giving the gov the benefit-of-the-doubt would be appropriate, for awhile, because of the fog of war.
But with the sketchy track record of the current administration, one has to wonder if they already know,
but are delaying telling the truth, as it might cost them some of the small percentage percentage of Americans who think
this war of choice is a good idea... Severed arms and legs of innocent little girls are pretty tough optics to sell...
Let's see if Fox News can sell it to MAGA...

ETA: Link to USA Today asking same thing...
"The Pentagon says it is reviewing the incident, but so far it has not publicly committed
to a formal investigation, disciplinary action or other accountability measures."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...chool-attack-human-rights-groups/88949676007/

[my bold]
"Conservative" media as segmented in the modern infotainment space means not broadcasting content that might reflect badly on the GOP or the current administration. Fox, OAN and other partisan outlets are likely to devote little to no air time to this particular story. MAGA will never see it as they are among the audience segments most prone to self-select media resources that reinforce their world view. Rush Limbaugh would be nodding his head at this.

 

[deirdre]

~2.5 days

3.5 days. well right now its 4 days.. but 3.5 when you posted.

 

[NoParty]

[my bold]
...Fox, OAN and other partisan outlets are likely to devote little to no air time to this particular story.

This is obviously true. With a caveat:
Just as the Right initially tried to blame the shameful Jan. 6 actions of their own traitors, on "antifa," until it was too ridiculous,
they have already tried to blame Shajareh Tayyebeh on Iran (concocting a yarn: "The regime in Iran has now confessed that the IRGC mistakenly bombed an Iranian school yesterday, killing many children," read one post on X, viewed more than 5,300,000 times) to obfuscate and fool
those who don't pay close attention. Iran made no such confession.

My point is, that if, somehow, we did eventually discover (unlikely, though it is) that Iran was responsible, and not us,
THEN Fox News and OAN etc., would happily bombard their silo'd sheep with as much graphic carnage as they could....

ETA: Full disclosure: While I was initially enraged to see some on the Right shamelessly spread lies, trying to blame Shajareh Tayyebeh on Iran,
I must add that a later, longer, closer look, suggests that this is not (yet?) being done by most of the "mainstream" conservative voices...
at least, nowhere near as bad as they tried to initially blame the insurrection on antifa, until it was obvious to all that they were lying...

 

[deirdre]

they have already tried to blame Shajareh Tayyebeh on Iran (concocting a yarn: "The regime in Iran has now confessed that the IRGC mistakenly bombed an Iranian school yesterday, killing many children," read one post on X, viewed more than 5,300,000 times) to obfuscate and fool
those who don't pay close attention. Iran made no such confession.

The "right" did not post that.

Source: https://x.com/NiohBerg/status/2028119242952921107

 

[NoParty]

The claim that the US/Israel bombed a girls school needs it's own thread.

Although it is clearly part of "2026 Israeli–United States strikes on Iran"
the fact that the gov seems to be dragging it's feet on telling us what they do & do not know, re. the tragedy of the
Shajareh Tayyebeh girls school, suggests that there may (eventually) be a lot to look at, on this... So, yes, agreed.

 

[deirdre]

Although it is clearly part of "2026 Israeli–United States strikes on Iran"

current events threads arent really meant for analyzing. separate issues or debunks should always go in seperate threads. have you forgotten that?

 

[Ann K]

The "right" did not post that.

I think you are saying (carelessly) "the American right did not post that".

Here, to complicate matters, is a screen grab of a post on "X" that claims to know who "Nioh Berg" is. I haven't verified it.

 

[NoParty]

I am not happy that ~2.5 days after the horrific slaughter (140-175 mostly school girls) at the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls school,
our government is saying virtually nothing about whether or not they (or their co-attackers, Israel) did it.

ETA: Link to USA Today asking same thing...
"The Pentagon says it is reviewing the incident, but so far it has not publicly committed
to a formal investigation, disciplinary action or other accountability measures."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...chool-attack-human-rights-groups/88949676007/

Unfortunately, it looks more and more like it was a US strike that killed all those little girls. There are foreign factions who believe we did
it on purpose, but I'm personally not that cynical. But it does seem to have been a reckless, easily avoidable mistake. Probably
just not checking that very very old maps were still accurate. Contradicting Hegseth's etc. claims that we're doing everything
to avoid killing innocent civilians. And now we're asked to believe that PBS can figure out who was responsible, before our
best-in-the-world military can. Fortunately for the Trump administration, the press seems barely interested, thus far.
Maybe the plan is to just stall addressing it, until everyone forgets it, distracted by the next outrage. I don't think this will go away.

https://www.npr.org/2026/03/04/nx-s...school-was-more-extensive-than-first-reported

"Three independent experts confirmed NPR's analysis of the additional strike points.



The strike points "look like pretty clean detonation centroids," said Corey Scher,
a postdoctoral researcher at the Conflict Ecology laboratory at Oregon State University.

"These certainly appear like detonation sites," agreed Scher's colleague, Oregon State associate professor Jamon Van Den Hoek.

Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at Middlebury College who specializes in satellite imagery, said the imagery was consistent with a precision airstrike.

The images show "very precise targeting," Lewis told NPR. "Almost all the buildings [in the compound] are hit."

I have mocked the Trump Administration's lack of transparency (made even worse, by gaslighting that they are the most transparent, ever)...
and this is why: About 175 innocents dead, no answers from our government...

 

[deirdre]

it was a US strike that killed all those little girls.

what part of your quotes say it was the united states?

 

[NoParty]

...the press seems barely interested, thus far.

I have mocked the Trump Administration's lack of transparency (made even worse, by gaslighting that they are the most transparent, ever)...
and this is why: About 175 innocents dead, no answers from our government...

Well, it looks like PBS's work (arguing convincingly that it was a precise, high level targeting) has finally nudged the press to take some interest:

3/4/26 Reporter, to Karoline Leavitt: "Did the United States air strike a girls elementary school and kill 175 people?"
Leavitt : "Not that we know of ...I would just tell you very strongly that the United States of America does not target civilians..."

Add this to Hegseth & Rubio, etc., making extremely similar carefully-worded responses, that stress that we wouldn't do it on purpose,
but very, very notably not denying that we killed those little girls. The other possible malefactor, Israel, by contrast, has said they know
nothing about it. Our team has skipped denying that we did it, and is on to, essentially:
"...but we have strict policies against doing that sort of thing on purpose." That's why I said an hour ago, it's looking more & more like us.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1590382452176981

 

[deirdre]

PBS's work (arguing convincingly that it was a precise, high level targeting) has finally nudged the press to take some interest

actually every question and answer thingi've seen, ive heard the press has asked about it. They arent reporting on it because there is nothing to report yet.
Maybe the EU or UN can go over there and go to the bomb site and check the bomb debris. to confirm it was us. (or we can wait until the guys we need to get info from aren't so busy fighting a military operation).

 

[NoParty]

3/4/26 Reporter, to Karoline Leavitt: "Did the United States air strike a girls elementary school and kill 175 people?"
Leavitt : "Not that we know of ...I would just tell you very strongly that the United States of America does not target civilians..."

If it turns out that we were responsible for the bombing of those children, we really, really need to know what evidence we were looking
at, and when. Personally, with all of our high tech cameras, etc., I think that we likely knew who was responsible the day it happened.
So for Leavitt to stand there and say we don't know, all these days later, because the answer is damning & embarrasing,
is just not acceptable for a public servant on the taxpayer dime.

As a former philosophy major, as she was speaking, I was picturing her later--when called out--saying:
"Well, can we really ever truly know anything?" in some sort of Cartesian cogito mindf*ck...
"We were only 99.9666% sure, when I was answering the question, soooooooo, I didn't technically lie to the American people, right?"

 

[deirdre]

If it turns out that we were responsible for the bombing of those children, we really, really need to know what evidence we were looking
at, and when.

which is why we need an independent investigation.

 

[NoParty]

@NoParty - ...there is zero chance he will admit that any of his warriors did anything improper. This will get buried by whatever scandal inevitably follows in 47's clown show of an administration.

I don't know. Most Americans were already in the "No new wars" camp...and I don't think they're gonna warm up to the Iran War
much, if they realize that our "leaders" will recklessly kill young girls, AND bend the truth into a pretzel to keep us from knowing about it.

@NoParty - ...someone circled the wrong building on a computer screen, that data got sent to a tactical squadron as part of a target package, those coordinates were loaded into the guidance system of a JDAM, a pilot flew to the coordinates he was given and pushed a button when it was scheduled to be pushed. Whoever should have cross checked the data could have been anywhere in chain back to when NRO first acquired the satellite image.

As the applicable manual states, "Proper database management is necessary for effective targeting. The Joint Targeting. Toolbox (JTT) is the tool of record for the joint targeting community."

Well, Ima take your word on that: I'm in no position to confirm or deny that!

My simple take is that the school was connected to something that probably was a legit target at one time. And no one took the time to
take the school area off the target list, later. But it seems that we always knew it was a school, so we have negligence at a criminal level.
But since the school buildings were individually hit with "precision," I'm guessing that our military is going to argue that enemy combatants
were using the school as a shield, and thus it was legally in play, and that's why it was targeted. The problem is that the supposed bad guys
we were trying to hit, hadn't been there in years. And we didn't bother to double check that. Lots of guessing on my part...on very incomplete evidence...but it's what it looks like to me on 3/4.

 

[Mendel]

I don't know. Most Americans were already in the "No new wars" camp...and I don't think they're gonna warm up to the Iran War much, if they realize that our "leaders" will recklessly kill young girls, AND bend the truth into a pretzel to keep us from knowing about it.

There's a meme about that.

Spoiler: bonus meme

But since the school buildings were individually hit with "precision," I'm guessing that our military is going to argue that enemy combatants were using the school as a shield, and thus it was legally in play, and that's why it was targeted.

"There are tunnels under the school." Probably.

 

[NoParty]

There's a meme about that.
View attachment 88920

Spoiler: bonus meme

View attachment 88919

"There are tunnels under the school." Probably.

Oh, yeah...tunnels are always good!

 

[MapperGuy]

The strike points "look like pretty clean detonation centroids," said Corey Scher,
a postdoctoral researcher at the Conflict Ecology laboratory at Oregon State University.

"These certainly appear like detonation sites," agreed Scher's colleague, Oregon State associate professor Jamon Van Den Hoek.

Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at Middlebury College who specializes in satellite imagery, said the imagery was consistent with a precision airstrike.

The images show "very precise targeting," Lewis told NPR. "Almost all the buildings [in the compound] are hit."

The school and clinic buildings were deliberately targeted, pretty obvious.
Looking at the before photo that was originally one compound, the road pattern tells you that. But there is a wall crossing the branch toward the school built later.
Outdated target package. Nobody noticed the repurposing of parts of the original base.

 

[NoParty]

The school and clinic buildings were deliberately targeted, pretty obvious.
Looking at the before photo that was originally one compound, the road pattern tells you that. But there is a wall crossing the branch toward the school built later.
Outdated target package. Nobody noticed the repurposing of parts of the original base.

Agree completely. But you know there's a school there. You HAVE to triple check your target package
(they can't claim they didn't have time: they slow walked this attack for months, and pounded the school on Day One). Heads should roll.

The most plausible reason I can think of for a five day stall on facts, is that coming up with a decent excuse is gonna be super hard...

 

[MapperGuy]

Agree completely. But you know there's a school there. You HAVE to triple check your target package
(they can't claim they didn't have time: they slow walked this attack for months, and pounded the school on Day One). Heads should roll.

The most plausible reason I can think of for a five day stall on facts, is that coming up with a decent excuse is gonna be super hard...

Unfortunately this administration has been looking in many directions all at once and changing focus on a whim.
There are many different places the military is always getting ready to fight. Guarantee you there are people updating targets in Cuba at this moment.

There are only so many analysts to work all these different tasks. And priorities as well, at the moment we seem to be hitting every single known target in Iran, including those that would have been on the bottom end of the priority list for updates.

 

[Giddierone]

coming up with a decent excuse is gonna be super hard...

There's lots of useful information here https://www.snopes.com/news/2026/03/03/iran-girls-school-missile-attack/ about the unproven claim that it was somehow caused by the Irianians themselves.

 

[Mendel]

There's lots of useful information here https://www.snopes.com/news/2026/03/03/iran-girls-school-missile-attack/ about the unproven claim that it was somehow caused by the Irianians themselves.

Was the school near an Iranian military site?
Reports from New Lines Magazine and Al Jazeera English determined that the girls' school was next to an IRGC base on Resalat Boulevard in Minab. An Al Jazeera report said the school had been "clearly separate" from the adjacent military site for at least 10 years and its targeting was "deliberate."

Based on verified footage of smoke plumes rising from the base, The New York Times reported that the military site had been targeted by U.S. and Israeli missiles on Feb. 28, the same day the girls' school was hit by a missile. The Times reported that 2013 satellite images showed that the school building was part of the base at one point but by September 2016 had been walled off.

Satellite images we looked at from 2017 onward on Google Earth indicated that walls had been built around the school. As noted in New Lines Magazine's reporting, a Google Earth satellite image from 2018 shows walls painted in bright colors, indicating a school building:

This hits close to home because we have a lot of repurposed ex-military buildings in Germany, thanks to the cold war ending. With Iraq conquered, I expect Iran may have scaled down their military as well?

 

[Gary C]

There's lots of useful information here https://www.snopes.com/news/2026/03/03/iran-girls-school-missile-attack/ about the unproven claim that it was somehow caused by the Irianians themselves.

For an Iranian missile to have coincidentally struck the exact center of the school which just happened to be adjacent to six other US/IDF weapons impacts seems grossly unlikely. The warhead of an S-300 surface-to-air missile (SAM) at about 150kg is less than half the size of common US manufactured air delivered ordinance. I would be unwilling accept anyone saying exactly what munition did hit the school who did not have direct physical access needed to conduct a crater analysis. Looking at the entire site, I would expect unitary munitions in the ~500 kg class were used. That's consistent with multiple types of US/IDF attack aircraft.

Edit: Since there are specific claims here which are debatable/debunkable, I second the suggestion to move this to its own thread.

 

[fizzBuzz]

Unfortunately, it looks more and more like it was a US strike that killed all those little girls.

Personally, with all of our high tech cameras, etc., I think that we likely knew who was responsible the day it happened.
So for Leavitt to stand there and say we don't know, all these days later, because the answer is damning & embarrasing,
is just not acceptable for a public servant on the taxpayer dime.

The school and clinic buildings were deliberately targeted, pretty obvious.

But you know there's a school there.

For an Iranian missile to have coincidentally struck the exact center of the school which just happened to be adjacent to six other US/IDF weapons impacts seems grossly unlikely. The warhead of an S-300 surface-to-air missile (SAM) at about 150kg is less than half the size of common US manufactured air delivered ordinance. I would be unwilling accept anyone saying exactly what munition did hit the school who did not have direct physical access needed to conduct a crater analysis. Looking at the entire site, I would expect unitary munitions in the ~500 kg class were used. That's consistent with multiple types of US/IDF attack aircraft.

Seems to be getting quite speculative in here...

 

[Giddierone]

missile to have coincidentally struck the exact center of the school

The Al Jazeera report suggests two strikes and the reason being a reliance on out of date intelligence data.

When the US-Israeli attack began on the morning of February 28, 2026, analysis of the strike locations revealed an odd pattern: Missiles hit the military base and the school, but bypassed the specialised clinic complex located between the two without touching it.

This exclusion cannot be explained as a coincidence; it strongly indicates that the executing party was operating with coordinates and maps that distinguished between the complex's different facilities.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026...s-school-strike-as-israel-us-deny-involvement

 

[jdog]

The Washington Post reports that the Pentagon is using Claude AI to identify targets: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/03/04/anthropic-ai-iran-campaign/ (paywalled, I can't read the full article).

To strike 1,000 targets in 24 hours in Iran, the U.S. military leveraged the most advanced AI it's ever used in warfare.

Anthropic's Claude partnered with the military's Maven Smart System, suggesting targets and issuing precise location coordinates.

CBS News has a similar report.

 

[NoParty]

I'm certainly willing to give the gov the benefit of the doubt (which many others investigating this are definitely not!)
that the killing of many, many little girls was unintentional...

But I think it's taking them 5+ days, so far, to come up with a story that can reconcile what happened,
with their claims that taking extensive measures to avoid harming innocents is a top priority...

 

[deirdre]

Looking at the entire site, I would expect unitary munitions in the ~500 kg class were used.

hegseth and that general said yesterday which missiles they used early on and which ones they are switching too. i have no recollection of names since in not a "munitions" gal.

The most plausible reason I can think of for a five day stall on facts

seriously? do you know why we dont know if a drone flew over Minab or a jet or if the bombs came from missile launches? do you know why we dont have footage of the actual bombing from 1-4 angles like we did in Gaza?

and clinic buildings were deliberately targeted

Gidderiones al jazeeera article says the clinic wasnt hit. (2 comments up)

" I'm guessing that our military is going to argue that enemy combatants
were using the school as a shield

i kinda doubt our military would say that, but i did save some screenshots that that idea was going around on the day of the bombing. thinking it was a video, but i didnt save link to it, because i remember them saying (unless i read it) something about the mountains in the background matching... but you cant google car to check it out. so i didnt try a full debunk (if it is indeed bunk, i dont know but i dont see tanks or weapons)

add: i see teh video marker in pic, so it was a video on youtube.

 

[deirdre]

with their claims that not killing innocents is a top priority...

did they claim that? i assume they dont want to kill innocents obviously, but a top priority? do you have a source for your claim?

 

[Gary C]

hegseth and that general said yesterday which missiles they used early on and which ones they are switching too. i have no recollection of names since in not a "munitions" gal.

I listened to it on the radio. He rattled off some acronyms and dropped a few names to make it sound like he knew what he was talking about before turning the brief over to the other guy. I don't recall him associating a specific weapon with the school incident. Do you have a transcript that provides that info?

 

[Mendel]

The Washington Post reports that the Pentagon is using Claude AI to identify targets: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/03/04/anthropic-ai-iran-campaign/ (paywalled, I can't read the full article).


CBS News has a similar report.

A copy of the full article is at https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com...s-campaign-in-iran/articleshow/129040273.html

The military's Maven Smart System, which is built by data mining company Palantir, is generating insights from an astonishing amount of classified data from satellites, surveillance and other intelligence, helping provide real-time targeting and target prioritisation to military operations in Iran, according to three people familiar with the system. Embedded into the system is Anthropic's AI tool Claude, a technology that was banned by the Pentagon last week after heated negotiations over the terms of its use in war.

[...]

As planning for a potential strike in Iran was underway, Maven, powered by Claude, suggested hundreds of targets, issued location coordinates, and prioritised those targets according to importance, said two of the people. The pairing of Maven and Claude has created a tool that is speeding the pace of the campaign, reducing Iran's ability to counterstrike and turning weeks-long battle planning into real-time operations, said one of the people. The AI tools also evaluate a strike after it is initiated, the person said.

 

[deirdre]

I don't recall him associating a specific weapon with the school incident

there was nothing specific to the school incident.

 

[Giddierone]

The image of the military equipment at a school posted above is from 2022 and was taken in Arak, 1,200km away from Minab.


Source: https://x.com/talhagin/status/2016060309627195675?s=20

 

[fizzBuzz]

do you have a source for your claim?

this was a good joke.

 

[fizzBuzz]

I listened to it on the radio. He rattled off some acronyms and dropped a few names to make it sound like he knew what he was talking about before turning the brief over to the other guy. I don't recall him associating a specific weapon with the school incident. Do you have a transcript that provides that info?

This is the transcript from yesterday's briefing. Is that what you're referring to?

The only mention of the school was this:

Q: Thank you. Tom Bateman with BBC. Can you give us an update on what the administration knows, what you know now about the reported strike on a girls school in southern Iran on Saturday?

SECRETARY HEGSETH: All I know – all I can say is that we're investigating that. We, of course, never target civilian targets, but we're taking a look and investigating that.

Q: Just on the basis that with the information you would have, your reconnaissance abilities, uh, ability to gather information, I mean, it's several days on now. So, is there any clarity on whose munition this was?

SECRETARY HEGSETH: We're investigating it. Thank you.

https://www.war.gov/News/Transcript...hairman-of-the-joint-chiefs-of-staff-gen-dan/

 

[deirdre]

He rattled off some acronyms and dropped a few names to make it sound like he knew what he was talking about before turning the brief over to the other guy.

oh sorry...he only says the initial ones were "exquisite standoff munitions" ? but assumedly better than 500, 1000 or 2000lb gravity bombs.

edit: 4:00 timestamp...the transcript on youtube is funky

Source: https://youtu.be/7o9CGLEcUfo?t=244

 

[Gary C]

This is the transcript from yesterday's briefing. Is that what you're referring to?

The only mention of the school was this:


https://www.war.gov/News/Transcript...hairman-of-the-joint-chiefs-of-staff-gen-dan/

Yes, thank you. It just confirms my memory of him describing only general categories of weapons and nothing specific to the school other than what you already posted.

 

[deirdre]

Yes, thank you. It just confirms my memory of him describing only general categories of weapons and nothing specific to the school other than what you already posted.

well if he said something specific of what they were dropping, then that might be what was used at the school. but the word i didnt remember was just "standoff". < i have no idea what that means either.

add: well it does tell us a bit..i had assumed they were dropped from planes because the holes look like not-on-an-angle to my novice eye. but maybe male folk already knew they were missiles.

 

[Giddierone]

the transcript from yesterday's briefing

"We, of course, never target civilian targets" is so revealing. There are no legitimate "civilian targets."

 

[John J.]

Reports from New Lines Magazine and Al Jazeera English determined that the girls' school was next to an IRGC base on Resalat Boulevard in Minab. An Al Jazeera report said the school had been "clearly separate" from the adjacent military site for at least 10 years and its targeting was "deliberate."

Merlyn Thomas of BBC Verify, speaking on PM, BBC Radio 4, 05 March 2026, from about 18 mins 25 secs into the programme (any transcription errors are mine, she spoke pretty fast)

...we've got new satellite imagery, and it- it's crucial to our understanding of what happened because it shows that the surrounding area of the school itself, and the IRGC base itself, show multiple strikes hit that area. Now the school is located right next to an IRGC base, and we can see that in these satellite images that the IRGC base itself was hit multiple times, the school building itself is partially collapsed, and a building in the IRGC base was completely flattened.
Now, when you combine that image with the verified videos we have on the ground, experts have said that this suggests that there were multiple simultaneous or near-simultaneous strikes in the area. It's worth saying as well that, some people have claimed that the IRGC base is next to the school, how separate is it, what we can say is a wall is visible from Google Earth imagery, is visible from 2016 that, that is separating the school from the IRGC base itself.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002s3g5