War in Iran: United States accused of striking a second school on the first day of the conflict

The United States accused of hitting a second school in Iran at the beginning of the war. (screenshot of surveillance video images broadcast by Iranian media and verified by the BBC)

Capture of the screen (www.bbc.com)

The United States accused of hitting a second school in Iran at the beginning of the war. (screenshot of surveillance video images broadcast by Iranian media and verified by the BBC)

A compromising information confirmed by two reference media. Already denounced to the UN for the bombing that killed dozens at a girls’ school in Minab, the United States is once again accused of hitting a school on the first day of the war in Iran. According to information published on Saturday, March 28 by the BBC and confirmed on Sunday by the New York Times, American missiles indeed hit civilian infrastructure in the city of Lamerd, causing at least 21 deaths.

Journalists relied on surveillance images taken by Iranian media and authenticated. Their analysis by weapons specialists and an American official (on condition of anonymity) is clear: the attack was carried out using American PrSM missiles, recognizable by their shape as well as their way of exploding.

The study of the images by the two media outlets concludes that a residential area and a gymnasium were hit. Both investigations reveal that the gymnasium regularly hosted children and volleyball matches – with the BBC specifying that it also served as an exam center for students. The New York Times indicates, meanwhile, that the elementary school adjacent to the gymnasium was also hit by the strikes.

A new targeting error?

This attack, which the American military neither confirms nor comments on, took place a few hours before a strike on the Minab school, which Iranian authorities claim killed over 170 people, including approximately 110 children. This incident earned Washington a reprimand from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who urged them to “deliver justice” and denounced an “absolute horror.”

The US Defense Minister, Pete Hegseth, had stated that an investigation was underway, reaffirming that the US military “never targets civilian sites.” According to the New York Times, which uncovered the incident with the help of American officials and those close to the investigation, the missile that hit the Minab school was indeed fired by the US military following a targeting error.

A scenario that could also explain the attack on Lamerd: both the BBC and the New York Times note the presence, right next to the gymnasium, of a complex belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Both media outlets also emphasize that the civilian use of the gymnasium and its popularity among children can be verified through publicly accessible images.

This map from the New York Times allows you to see the buildings hit by the missiles, located right next to the compound of the Revolutionary Guards.

While there is uncertainty surrounding the possible affiliation of the gymnasium with the Revolutionary Guards’ complex, the New York Times emphasizes that a wall had been erected between the two buildings. The American newspaper also recalls that the US military had indicated targeting southern Iran, where both the city of Lamerd and Minab are located.