By David Meadows
Lanesboro, MN
U.S. forces carried out a precision missile strike on Saturday February 28, 2026, in Minab, Iran. The target of this strike was an Iran Revolutionary Guard Corp. (IRGC) naval base. Iranian state TV claims an all-girls school was struck in the attack, resulting in 165 young girls being killed. The first thing that needs to be said is that the death of 165 children is a horrific tragedy. The families of these children will be forever shattered. In that regard, it does not matter who is responsible or what the circumstances were, it was a horrific humanitarian crisis. This is where the issue gets complicated. Questions that arise concern the validity of Iran’s claim, what did happen, what were the circumstances, and who is to blame.
First let us address the location and use of the supposed school building. According to satellite images posted on March 04, 2026, yahoo!News article the school building is located next to the IRGC naval base. The article states “While the facility was functioning as a school, CBC News has confirmed a previous New York Times report stating the building was once part of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) base.”(1)
Next, we look at the validity of Iranian officials’ claims that 165 schoolgirls were killed in the strike. Several photos of the bombsite are posted in a March 1, 2026, Australian Broadcast Corporation (ABC) article.(2) None of these photos show signs of actual victims, no signs of blood, and no signs of a classroom environment. That alone is not enough to say this was not a school or that the children are not buried under the rubble. Israeli sources have said the photo circulated on Iranian State television are actually from the January 2026 protests. A February 12, 2026, article from Center for Human Rights in Iran reports that 200 schoolchildren were murdered by the regime in January protest crackdowns. “If the global community fails to respond decisively when more than 200 schoolchildren are gunned down and buried in secret, it enables the gravest of crimes to be committed with impunity,” said Bahar Ghandehari, director of advocacy at the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).”(3) In 2022 Amnesty International wrote “The Iranian authorities have routinely harassed and intimidated the families of child victims to coerce them into silence or to force them to accept narratives absolving authorities of responsibility for the deaths of their loved ones in written statements….”.(4) These articles alone do not refute the validity of the claims made by Iranian officials.
So, what is the truth and who is responsible? We may never know the answer to that question and have to live with the bitter taste that leaves in our mouths. Iran has a well-documented history of indiscriminate killings and human rights abuses against its own citizens. The regime also has a history of using doctored images and AI created media for propaganda use in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. It is hard to believe that we would strike a school when using precision guided missiles. It has been documented that the “school” building is or had been part of the IRGC base. In war there are mistakes and there is collateral damage. Any collateral damage that results in the loss of life is horrible, especially when it involves children. At the end of the day, which is the only conclusion we can be certain of.
Sources cited:
(1) www.yahoo.com/news/articles/bombed-girls-school-iran-visual-014753114.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
(2) www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-02/iran-girls-school-strike-minab-explained/106404558
(3) iranhumanrights.org/2026/02/over-200-schoolchildren-killed-by-security-forces-in-iran-theyve-effectively-massacred-an-entire-school/
(4) www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/12/iran-authorities-covering-up-their-crimes-of-child-killings-by-coercing-families-into-silence/
Leave a Reply