US Tomahawk struck Iranian base next to school destroyed in deadly attack, video appears to confirm
Story by Gianluca Mezzofiore, Thomas Bordeaux, Christian Edwards, Isobel Yeung, Quinta Thomson, Issy Ronald, CNN
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4 min read
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Footage has emerged that appears to show a US missile targeting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval base adjacent to the school where Iranian state media say scores of children were killed.
A new video, posted on Mehr News, a semi-official Iranian news agency, is the first to show missiles striking the area in Minab, southern Iran, on February 28.
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The footage, which was filmed from a nearby construction site, shows a munition that experts said is consistent with an American BGM or UGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) striking a location inside the IRGC base.
As the camera pans to the right, a huge plume of smoke can be seen from the direction of the Shajareh Tayyiba school, where at least 168 children and 14 teachers were killed, according to Iranian state media.
This adds to a body of evidence that seemingly contradicts
President Donald Trump’s claims that
Iran was responsible for the attack, and tallies with
CNN reporting, expert analysis and other outlets that found the United States military was likely responsible for the strike on the school.
“Based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran,” Trump told reporters Saturday, characterizing Iranian munitions as “very inaccurate.”
At least 168 children and 14 adults died in the attack, according to Iranian state media. - Anadolu/Getty Images© Anadolu/Getty Images
His administration has been more cautious about directly attributing blame for the strike. When asked by a reporter whether Trump’s claims were true, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, “We’re certainly investigating, but the only side that targets civilians is Iran,” while, before Trump’s statement, the White House had not ruled out that US military carried out the strike.
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The US Department of Defense did not immediately respond to questions about the use of a Tomahawk missile on Sunday. When previously asked about the strikes, US Central Command told CNN that “it would be inappropriate to comment given the incident is under investigation.”
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.
“First, it fits the visual characteristics of a TLAM,” he said. “The cruciform shape with centrally mounted wings and a tailkit at the back. Second, the video was taken about 250 meters (820 feet) from the likely impact point. That means the munition has to be large. This rules out other munitions in the US stockpile with similar visual characteristics like the GBU-69B.”
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.
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Only the US Navy, not Israel, operates Tomahawk missiles, launching them from its surface ships and submarines, experts said.
A previous CNN analysis of satellite imagery, geolocated videos, public statements from US officials and the assessment of munitions experts concluded Friday that the US was likely responsible for the strike.
At the time, CNN had not been able to examine any images of remnants of the weapons used in the attack, which it would typically provide to munitions experts to assess their providence.
Rescue workers and residents search through the rubble in the aftermath of the strike. - Abbas Zakeri/Mehr News Agency/AP
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.
Still, other evidence suggests US responsibility for the strike, which occurred Saturday morning, the first day of the working and school week in Iran.
Videos geolocated by CNN show that the school was struck at or around the same time as the base, with one showing smoke billowing both from the IRGC facility and the school building.
Satellite imagery from 2013 showed that the school and the IRGC base were once part of the same compound. But images from 2016 revealed that a fence had been erected to separate the school from the rest of the base, and that a separate entrance to the school had been built. In December 2025, imagery showed dozens of people in the school’s courtyard, apparently playing in what appears to be a court for ballgames.
N.R. Jenzen-Jones, a munitions expert and the director of Armament Research Services (ARES), told CNN that the satellite imagery and videos “paint a picture of multiple simultaneous or near-simultaneous strikes” hitting both the IRGC compound and the school.
Initially, speculation swirled online that the blast at the school could have been caused by misfiring Iranian air defenses, as the IRGC tried to repel incoming air strikes.
But Jenzen-Jones said that explanation was unlikely, since recent imagery of the naval base showed the buildings had sustained significant damage, suggesting they had been struck with air-delivered precision-guided munitions, rather than “air defense missiles that have gone awry.”
“We’re seeing targeted strikes that look like they’re intended to disable those buildings. That’s the most likely outcome,” he added.
Jenzen-Jones also said that military bases such as the one at Minab would often be among the “pre-planned targets” to be struck in the opening exchanges of a conflict.
US officials have confirmed that the US has struck military targets in southern Iran. In a briefing Wednesday, Gen. Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, presented a map that plotted American and Israeli strikes on Iran over the first 100 hours of the war. He said Israel had mostly struck northern Iran while the US had targeted the south.
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