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

[deirdre]

It's time to talk about what went wrong.

we don't replace the military or all investigators every time there is an administration switch. i see no evidence to suggest the investigators are Trump hired people who might be purposefully not working fast enough.

it took a month and a half to get a preliminary report on the DC helicopter/plane crash. for what reason i do not know as they had all the computerized equipment on those vehicles too. radars tracking them etc.

Investigations dont happen over night. why, i dont know. i just know they don't.

add: and stonewalling makes no sense in an election year. the sooner the story (even if we didnt do it many [including on MB] will say we did).. comes out the sooner the media and public forget about it. We were all upset a few weeks ago about ICE and now noone is talking about it anymore in the media. Americans (media) have the attention span of gnats.

 

[NoParty]

Trump claims that Iran has Tomahawk missiles.
If true, that would support his other big lie, trying to absolve the US and blame Iran for the school bombing.
The media did not press him for proof of Iran's mythical Tomahawks. Hegseth did not inform the commander in chief.
There was little reaction, because lies from Donald J. Trump are more the norm that the exception.

3/9/26 Speaking to reporters, Trump said the missile used in the strike could have come from Iran or another country, arguing that the Tomahawk is widely available. "Whether it's Iran or somebody else … a Tomahawk is very generic," he said, adding that the missile is "sold and used by other countries" and that Iran "also has some Tomahawks."

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-responds-school-strike-iran-tomahawk-claim-11649218

 

[fizzBuzz]

Trump claims that Iran has Tomahawk missiles.
If true, that would support his other big lie, trying to absolve the US and blame Iran for the school bombing.
The media did not press him for proof of Iran's mythical Tomahawks. Hegseth did not inform the commander in chief.
There was little reaction, because lies from Donald J. Trump are more the norm that the exception.

3/9/26 Speaking to reporters, Trump said the missile used in the strike could have come from Iran or another country, arguing that the Tomahawk is widely available. "Whether it's Iran or somebody else … a Tomahawk is very generic," he said, adding that the missile is "sold and used by other countries" and that Iran "also has some Tomahawks."

Do we know the missile in the released video is a Tomahawk? I get it was reported that way, but how do we know it was a Tomahawk? I know you won't answer this, because you don't actually care about honest discourse...

What are the odds Trump parsed the reporter's question as "cruise missile" instead of specifically American made Tomahawk? A Tomahawk is just another cruise missile. Iran has cruise missiles - several kinds. Here is one:

https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/soumar

For reference, this is a Tomahawk

They look very similar don't they? And I don't think any of us could tell the two apart in two frames of a LIZ video.

I'm not saying Iran has Tomahawks. I'm not saying Iran bombed the school. I'm not saying Trump wasn't lying. I'm saying you prematurely jump to conclusions that suit your narrative. And for some reason, @deirdre and I are the only ones willing to point it out (on a forum that's supposed to be about evidence-based discussion).

 

[deirdre]

Here is one:

Belling cat says that particular missile video is not one that landed in the vicinity of the school, and from the line up of buildings that looks like a reasonable conclusion.. so dont take my aside here as "i dont think it's a tomahawk"-, so a bit off topic but..

i wonder if that is a Qud. (ironically even though i wouldnt have recalled tomahawk as a missile name before this thread, i always remembered Qud cause cows eat cud.<i know my brain files data weird)

looks like one. or would a LAS be completely different? kinda wondering why they changed the name. maybe Qud is the Farsi for LAS?

 

[fizzBuzz]

Belling cat says that particular missile video is not one that landed in the vicinity of the school

Yes, but my point was the Ballingcat article is what started the "Tomahawk" narrative.

New video footage shows a US Tomahawk missile hitting an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) facility in Minab, Iran, on Feb 28, showing for the first time that the US struck the area.

How does he know that's a Tomahawk. Yes, it appears similar to one. But different cruise missiles look similar to each other.

 

[deirdre]

How does he know that's a Tomahawk.

speaking of.. if i say "belling cat says".. is that ok? belling cat is the name of the website and not a specific person? i always thought it was a specific person.. should i change my above comment to "the belling cat website says" or is my wording ok?

 

[fizzBuzz]

speaking of.. if i say "belling cat says".. is that ok? belling cat is the name of the website and not a specific person? i always thought it was a specific person.. should i change my above comment to "the belling cat website says" or is my wording ok?

I think we know what you mean. I said "he" because there's some bro's picture next to the article... not important.

 

[Giddierone]

How does he know that's a Tomahawk.

The administration could have quickly ruled this out given that million dollar missiles are tracked to their point of impact. Yet, they have not done so.

 

[NoParty]

The administration could have quickly ruled this out given that million dollar missiles are tracked to their point of impact. Yet, they have not done so.

The evidence of what happened is fact-based, strong, & reinforced by many credible sources.

The attempts to evade & downplay the evidence are desperate, oppositional and wholly without merit.

 

[fizzBuzz]

The attempts to evade & downplay the evidence are desperate, oppositional and wholly without merit.

The attempts to claim they're covering something up are desperate, oppositional and wholly without merit.

 

[deirdre]

The administration could have quickly ruled this out given that million dollar missiles are tracked to their point of impact. Yet, they have not done so.

why would they waste military time on that, it is not the missile that hit the school according to belling cat.

 

[NoParty]

Reporter: "Why are you the only person saying this?"
Trump: "Because I just don't know enough about it. I think it's something that I was told is under investigation.."
https://www.factcheck.org/2026/03/without-providing-evidence-trump-pins-school-bombing-on-iran/

To be fair, why should he know anything about it, at all? He had a lot of golfing to do, Sunday. He can't be expected to
watch every wholesale slaughter of innocents, just because all those investigations say we did it...

 

[Gary C]

Without other data, just looking at the satellite before and after pictures, the blast appears to be as well centered on the original structure as those on all the other targeted buildings on a base the US announced it had struck.

For the school to have been destroyed by an Iranian cruise missile would be a fluke of cosmic proportions on the order of getting a hole-in-one on a golf course next to the one your are playing on.

To accept that it was a US munition, you only to have believe in the existence of bureaucratic inefficiency, a hall mark of decades of right wing calls for smaller government.

 

[Giddierone]

How do we know anything about this war or the US military's actions more broadly? How do we know that the Ayatollah has been killed, or that it was a result of US action? How do we know that the more than 100 people killed in the Caribbean "fast boat" strikes were "narco terrorists"? Has any evidence been presented? Yesterday's story was "Iran is laying sea mines". This morning's headline is Hegseth saying 7 mine laying boats have been destroyed in the Straits of Hormuz. How do we know that is true?
Should we just accept their declarations on face value? And give credence to arguments that Iran coincidentally bombed its own school with a similar looking missile? (some extraordinary act of propaganda if true!)
The answer is pretty clear: we have to rely on independent expert opinion that, at this moment, is pointing to the US administration not providing evidence to either support the Iran missile claim or dismiss the claim that it was their mistake.

 

[Mendel]

How do we know anything about this war or the US military's actions more broadly?

Reports of evidence, and claims.

How do we know that the Ayatollah has been killed, or that it was a result of US action?

Iran does not contradict this. Absence of evidence speaks loudly here, given Iran's interests.

How do we know that the more than 100 people killed in the Caribbean "fast boat" strikes were "narco terrorists"?

We don't. We've also been shown insufficient evidence by those who could show more.
We've also seen by the evidence we did see that they've killed seamen who had gone overboard.
There cannot have been due process in these cases.

Has any evidence been presented?

That depends. And we have to carefully weigh the evidence that we do have access to.

Yesterday's story was "Iran is laying sea mines". This morning's headline is Hegseth saying 7 mine laying boats have been destroyed in the Straits of Hormuz. How do we know that is true?
Should we just accept their declarations on face value?

Not with this adminstration, no.

And give credence to arguments that Iran coincidentally bombed its own school with a similar looking missile? (some extraordinary act of propaganda if true!)

That would go against common sense.

The answer is pretty clear: we have to rely on independent expert opinion

What makes "independent experts" more reliable?

You have to look at the available evidence, consider where it came from, and then weigh each side's interpretation of it.

 

[Giddierone]

What makes "independent experts" more reliable?

You seem to have missed the point of my post above. We have no choice but to look to independent experts in the school bombing case because the administration is not being forthcoming with their evidence - it's not that independent experts are "more reliable" but that official named ones are not talking. They haven't even offered "collateral damage" in their admission, which is a terrible euphemism, but still marginally better than the outright denial and blaming Iran while providing zero evidence.

 

[deirdre]

you only to have believe in the existence of bureaucratic inefficiency, a hall mark of decades of right wing calls for smaller government.

you've got to be kidding me. Our military has bureaucratic inefficiency due to too small a budget and/or not enough personnel?
if this is true then europe's defense ability and targeting must be royally f'ed.

the rest of your comment i agree with.

 

[deirdre]

And give credence to arguments that Iran coincidentally bombed its own school with a similar looking missile? (some extraordinary act of propaganda if true!)

that missile is not the missile that hit the school, according to belling cat.

 

[deirdre]

Not with this adminstration, no.

Not with any administration. (and im not just talking american. i mean ANY administration)

 

[NoParty]

Without other data, just looking at the satellite before and after pictures, the blast appears to be as well centered on the original structure as those on all the other targeted buildings on a base the US announced it had struck.

For the school to have been destroyed by an Iranian cruise missile would be a fluke of cosmic proportions on the order of getting a hole-in-one on a golf course next to the one your are playing on.

To accept that it was a US munition, you only to have believe in the existence of bureaucratic inefficiency, a hall mark of decades of right wing calls for smaller government.

I put a "Like" because I agree with the first stuff.

And while they are definitely wasteful ($9,000,000.00 on crab legs, in September) & inefficient, the Republican calls for smaller
government are usually just when we're talking about school meals for poor kids and similar unnecessary "extravagances"...they never met a $2 billion stealth bomber they didn't like. There is never any Republican fiscal conservatism when it comes to the military. (And while the Dems aren't as bad, on this, they tend to spend too much on military too, because they're afraid of Republicans calling them "soft.")
https://www.indy100.com/politics/us-military-spent-crab-legs-lobster
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/10-most-expensive-military-aircraft-ever-built-hk-111125

 

[Gary C]

I put a "Like" because I agree with the first stuff.

And while they are definitely wasteful ($9,000,000.00 on crab legs, in September) & inefficient, the Republican calls for smaller
government are usually just when we're talking about school meals for poor kids and similar unnecessary "extravagances"...they never met a $2 billion stealth bomber they didn't like. There is never any Republican fiscal conservatism when it comes to the military. (And while the Dems aren't as bad, on this, they tend to spend too much on military too, because they're afraid of Republicans calling them "soft.")
https://www.indy100.com/politics/us-military-spent-crab-legs-lobster
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/10-most-expensive-military-aircraft-ever-built-hk-111125

Not so fast ...

Hegseth gutted offices that would have probed Iran school strike

The Pentagon chief last year slashed offices that didn't contribute to his goal of "lethality," including the group that assists in limiting risk to civilians, known as the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence. Around 200 employees who worked on the issue, including at that office, have been reduced by about 90 percent, according to two current and former officials and a person familiar with the effort. The team that handles civilian casualties at Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, has dropped from 10 to one.

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/10/pentagon-iran-school-strike-civilian-casualties-00820780

 

[deirdre]

$9,000,000.00 on crab legs, in September

it was only 2 million on crab legs, the other 7 was for lobster tail.

 

[Mendel]

Hegseth gutted offices that would have probed Iran school strike

Thank you for confirming my silent suspicions.

 

[deirdre]

including the group that assists in limiting risk to civilians, known as the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/10/pentagon-iran-school-strike-civilian-casualties-00820780

that office had 30 employees and based on its organizational chart and its stated goals.. we'd be lucky if 5 people were working on any issue that would relate to what we are talking about. And even that sounds like a stretch. They were given a shit ton of objectives for 30 people!
https://policy.defense.gov/Portals/...tection-Center-of-Excellence-Final-Report.pdf

Not that i'm against having people monitoring the situation of civilian casualties and working on training, oversight etc. (i'm a civilian, afterall!) but i doubt this reshuffling affected 1 bad target out of 5000. Or that this specific target (the school) would have been "caught" by these office (which are primarily army based it seems) personnel.

Article:

The Army has quietly shuttered a short-lived Defense Department office dedicated to safeguarding civilians in conflict zones, less than two years after its founding, according to a service document reviewed by Military.com.

The Civilian Protection Center of Excellence, which once housed roughly 30 staff, has been folded into the Army's dense web of unrelated bureaucratic policy shops.

One Army official described the shift as part of a larger streamlining effort. But another official familiar with the move said it amounts to "strategic sidelining," warning that the reorganization effectively buries the Pentagon's already fragile commitment to minimizing civilian harm.

Source: https://www.military.com/daily-news/2025/06/13/army-eliminates-office-minimizing-civilian-deaths-battlefields.html

As far as the headline you included.. i dont think we have to worry about the army/air force modifying it's target checklists to try and prevent future lovely headlines like "missile kills 150 children at school".

 

[alien]

I thought this attack on Iran was coordinated with Israel. The latter has plenty of experience bombing schools.

 

[JMartJr]

I thought this attack on Iran was coordinated with Israel. The latter has plenty of experience bombing schools.

They do not have Tomahawk missiles.

Despite the President saying:

Well, I haven't seen it. And I will say that the Tomahawk, which is one of the most powerful weapons around, is sold and used by other countries, you know that. And whether it's Iran who also has some Tomahawks, they wish they had more, but whether it's Iran or somebody else, the fact that a Tomahawk, a Tomahawk is very generic. It's sold to other countries, but that's being investigated right now.

Source: https://www.rev.com/transcripts/trump-gives-iran-update,

Only a very few countries have Tomahawks:

Besides the United States, only two other countries currently deploy Tomahawk cruise missiles — Britain and Australia. The navies of Japan and the Netherlands also are in the midst of acquiring the missiles and modifying some of their ships to operate them.

Source: https://www.washingtontimes.com/new...hawk-missiles-us-blamed-deadly-strike-school/

If the President or anyone else wants to make the case that Britain or Australia, who are not involved in the attack, fired one of their Tomahawks at the school they're free to do so.

As for the President's statement above, I am not sure if he knows perfectly well basic facts about the arsenal and weaponry under his command and is lying, or if he does not know the basic facts about the arsenal and weaponry under his control. Either seems plausible.

 

[Gary C]

that office had 30 employees and based on its organizational chart and its stated goals.. we'd be lucky if 5 people were working on any issue that would relate to what we are talking about. And even that sounds like a stretch. They were given a shit ton of objectives for 30 people!
https://policy.defense.gov/Portals/...tection-Center-of-Excellence-Final-Report.pdf

Not that i'm against having people monitoring the situation of civilian casualties and working on training, oversight etc. (i'm a civilian, afterall!) but i doubt this reshuffling affected 1 bad target out of 5000. Or that this specific target (the school) would have been "caught" by these office (which are primarily army based it seems) personnel.

I'm sorry but what "other target" has been struck in the current conflict that resulted in 100+ civilian casualties? Has the President been asked about any other mass casualty incidents that you are aware of? Didn't Trump clearly state that the school bombing was "being investigated?"

In any other setting, questions addressed directly to the President and SecDef would be transmitted down to the responsible investigative office as, "drop whatever you were doing and get me some answers about this <insert your choice of expletives here> school situation." In my personal experience, that's exactly what happens in a military organization.

YMMV

 

[NoParty]

They do not have Tomahawk missiles.

Despite the President saying:

Well, I haven't seen it. And I will say that the Tomahawk, which is one of the most powerful weapons around, is sold and used by other countries, you know that. And whether it's Iran who also has some Tomahawks, they wish they had more, but whether it's Iran or somebody else, the fact that a Tomahawk, a Tomahawk is very generic. It's sold to other countries, but that's being investigated right now.

Source: https://www.rev.com/transcripts/trump-gives-iran-update,

Only a very few countries have Tomahawks:

Besides the United States, only two other countries currently deploy Tomahawk cruise missiles — Britain and Australia. The navies of Japan and the Netherlands also are in the midst of acquiring the missiles and modifying some of their ships to operate them.

Source: https://www.washingtontimes.com/new...hawk-missiles-us-blamed-deadly-strike-school/

If the President or anyone else wants to make the case that Britain or Australia, who are not involved in the attack, fired one of their Tomahawks at the school they're free to do so.

As for the President's statement above, I am not sure if he knows perfectly well basic facts about the arsenal and weaponry under his command and is lying, or if he does not know the basic facts about the arsenal and weaponry under his control. Either seems plausible.

The rule of thumb is that if any particular piece of knowledge would cost him a hurt head & 2 minutes off the golf
course, or playing YMCA at a Mar-A-Lago party, then no, he does not know that thing.

 

[Todd Feinman]

The military leadership has been hollowed out to defeat "wokeism", and create blind allegiance to Trump. Now there is a Wile E. Coyote level of planning for wars.
Trump wondered why his generals couldn't have been more like Hitler's generals!! Frightening. Imagine other recent presidents behaving this way. "I don't know", "haven't heard anything about it."
And we're supposed to take Putin's word he is not providing intel on our troops!

 

[deirdre]

I'm sorry but what "other target" has been struck in the current conflict that resulted in 100+ civilian casualties? Has the President been asked about any other mass casualty incidents that you are aware of? Didn't Trump clearly state that the school bombing was "being investigated?"

i dont understand any of these questions in context to my post or yours i was responding to.

In any other setting, questions addressed directly to the President and SecDef would be transmitted down to the responsible investigative office as, "drop whatever you were doing and get me some answers about this <insert your choice of expletives here> school situation." In my personal experience, that's exactly what happens in a military organization.

This isn't any other setting.

Too bad Metabunk didn't start a thread on the withdrawal from Afghanistan. (assuming that is an example of what you mean by 'any other setting'?)

 

[Mendel]

According to John Kelly (2022),

Trump wondered why his generals couldn't have been more like Hitler's generals!!

Hitler's generals didn't talk back? lost a war? plotted his assassination?
Hitler dismissed generals who did not deliver results, only to use them again later.

Military in democacies swear an oath on their constitution, not on the leader of the day.
What Trump really wants are a king's generals.

 

[Gary C]

i dont understand any of these questions in context to my post or yours i was responding to.

This isn't any other setting.

Too bad Metabunk didn't start a thread on the withdrawal from Afghanistan. (assuming that is an example of what you mean by 'any other setting'?)

Choosing to be obtuse only when ideologically convenient once again.

 

[deirdre]

Choosing to be obtuse only when ideologically convenient once again.

1. im not choosing to be obtuse
2. im only obtuse when ideologically convenient? that doesnt sound right.

ask @Mick West about how long it took me to grasp the Appleman Chart. Or my triangle angle issues.

 

[Giddierone]

A couple of examples of the US apologising, if inadequately and the bare minimum, for killing civilians in war.

Obama (via a spokesperson - I think the apology was a "phone call") for the Doctors Without Borders hospital strike in 2015.

Source: https://youtu.be/-NvQO0elArs?si=ahuYBwWWZuxpYlup


Clinton for the bombing of a Chinese Embassy, 1999.
"It's tragic, it's awful, but it was an accident..."

Source: https://youtu.be/zLr3Zqc5yBo?si=48otzZFDuW0RrL-C


Finally, some admission from the US about the Minab school bombing.

Republican US Senator John Kennedy apologizes for what he says was a US strike on a school in Iran that reportedly killed over 160 people.

Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveb...ohn Kennedy,reportedly killed over 160 people.

Why couldn't the President say that?

 

[Todd Feinman]

A couple of examples of the US apologising, if inadequately and the bare minimum, for killing civilians in war.

Obama (via a spokesperson - I think the apology was a "phone call") for the Doctors Without Borders hospital strike in 2015.

Source: https://youtu.be/-NvQO0elArs?si=ahuYBwWWZuxpYlup


Clinton for the bombing of a Chinese Embassy, 1999.
"It's tragic, it's awful, but it was an accident..."

Source: https://youtu.be/zLr3Zqc5yBo?si=48otzZFDuW0RrL-C


Finally, some admission from the US about the Minab school bombing.

Republican US Senator John Kennedy apologizes for what he says was a US strike on a school in Iran that reportedly killed over 160 people.

Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/we-made-a-mistake-in-1st-gop-lawmaker-acknowledges-us-strike-hit-iran-elementary-school/#:~:text=Republican US Senator John Kennedy,reportedly killed over 160 people.

Why couldn't the President say that?

Because he's too busy saying how great "Trump" is, to give a crap. Can't take off his hat at military services, and considers folks like John McCain and George H. W. Bush losers for being captured and tortured and shot down respectively, while they risked their lives for this country. I honestly don't know how any one can stomach this stuff. Especially if you had a family member who had fought in WWII.
I keep thinking it must have to do with basic personality characteristics (approval seeking behavior?); the differences of opinion on the administrations statements and actions are SO stark. I would have walked away from any presidential candidate who behaved the way Trump did in his first term, regardless of political party.

 

[Gary C]

that office had 30 employees and based on its organizational chart and its stated goals.. we'd be lucky if 5 people were working on any issue that would relate to what we are talking about. And even that sounds like a stretch. They were given a shit ton of objectives for 30 people!
https://policy.defense.gov/Portals/...tection-Center-of-Excellence-Final-Report.pdf

(my underline)
1. The President and the SecDEF have both been asked about this in public press events.
2. The Pentagon has an office specifically set up to address these kinds of questions about civilian casualties in addition to the Public Affairs Office which is supposed to monitor and stay ahead of such bad press events.
3. It's been more than a week since the first reports broke.
4. If this were General Motors the CEO would have had an answer signed off on by the vice president for Middle East sales by now.
5. Five people would be more than enough as long as one of them knows as much about what questions to ask as the members of Metabunk.

Refer to the very similar Bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade linked above. Many more nations were involved yet it only took about a day for NATO HQ to figure out what had happened and for Clinton to issue an initial apology to the Chinese gov't.

Ultimately the Belgrade incident was caused by an error in a database which is what I have indicated is the most likely cause of the Minab tragedy. The only real difference is the lack of moral character demonstrated by the current administration. It represents a step DOWN from Bill Clinton who always struck me a used car salesmen and his wife/attorney.

 

[Giddierone]

Just now. Asked if "as commander in chief" he takes responsibility for the strike on the Minab school he answers:

I don't know about it

[1:15]


Source: https://youtu.be/9dlk1HwGcMs?si=sOkvI00Ws6PUxkXm&t=77

 

[deirdre]

Finally, some admission from the US about the Minab school bombing.

not sure i would count that as any kind of official admission. He just thinks its true, he doesnt know it's true. (i think it's quite likely true as well)

Article:

because I think it's the truth. I mean,
0:033 we're we're investigating, but I'm not going to hide behind that. I think uh I think it was a terrible, terrible
mistake. The investigation may prove me wrong. I hope so. The kids are still dead. Uh but I think it was a horrible,
horrible mistake. Um I wish it hadn't happened. I'm sorry it happened. I can assure you it wasn't intentional.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD8R4XNUcqk

 

[deirdre]

5. Five people would be more than enough as long as one of them knows as much about what questions to ask as the members of Metabunk.

the 5 people would be told by the investigation team, "we're investigating but we'll let you know" [or they would be on the investigation team and be telling us that.. or they ARE on the investigation team and are the ones telling us that. They didnt fire everyone, they just reshuffled them to different offices]

Im not going to try to explain investigations and how they work in America. (tried that in the "ICE" threads and people refused to try to understand.) I get youre frustrated and MB seems to think this is an odd anomaly.. no news coming out yet.

Refer to the very similar Bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade

see i dont think it is very similar. i dont want to try to type out, esp with my not-great communication skills, what i think is actually happening to cause this delay. But if MB thread posters want to believe the Trump administration would push the reveal off to be even closer to the mid term elections, you can think that.