Pentagon Officials Contradict Trump's Claim of Iranian Responsibility for School Bombing

U.S. military officials are refusing to endorse President Donald Trump's assertion that Iran was responsible for a deadly elementary school bombing in Minab, Iran, which resulted in the highest civilian death toll of what is being called Trump’s second Iran war. Despite Trump's public statements aboard Air Force One, where he claimed, "Based on what I’ve seen, it was done by Iran," his own Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, declined to corroborate the accusation. Hegseth stated only that an investigation was underway, offering a non-denial denial by suggesting "the only side that targets civilians is Iran."

Multiple current and former defense officials have directly challenged the President's narrative, with one U.S. government official who reviewed satellite imagery explicitly stating, "This clearly was not a failed rocket from the IRGC base." U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) also indicated that commenting on an ongoing investigation, as Trump did, would be "inappropriate." This pushback from military leadership comes as a misinformation campaign, reportedly supported by social media accounts advocating for the restoration of Iran's monarchy, attempted to attribute the attack to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Further analysis, including a video released by Iran's Mehr News Agency and corroborated by investigative journalism group Bellingcat, suggests the missile used was a Tomahawk cruise missile, a munition exclusively employed by the U.S. Wes Bryant, a former Special Operations joint terminal attack controller, stated that the strikes on the compound, which included the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school adjacent to an IRGC naval base, bore the "signature of a U.S. strike." Bryant suggested the school was likely hit due to "target misidentification," indicating a highly precise operation that mistakenly targeted the school.