NYT and Bellingcat find US Tomahawk evidence in Minab school strike

The Shajarah Tayyebeh girls' elementary school in Minab, Hormozgan province, was struck on Feb. 28, 2026 — the first day of Operation Epic Fury. Iranian media reported three separate missile impacts on the school and adjacent buildings during the school day. The school's muraled walls, painted with crayons, children, and apples, became one of the defining images of the war's civilian toll. At least 168 people were killed, with estimates up to 175 — the deadliest single strike on civilians in the war's first 10 days. Minab's mayor and Iranian education officials confirmed the school was the only active facility on a former IRGC base that had been decommissioned roughly 15 years earlier, with all military personnel relocated at the time.

The forensic trail connecting the Minab strike to U.S. munitions runs through three distinct evidentiary threads. First, the NYT's fragment analysis: photos posted on Telegram by Iran's state broadcaster IRIB showed missile debris on a table near the school ruins. The fragments included a component marked 'SDL ANTENNA' — satellite data link, used in modern Tomahawk Block IV and Block V variants — stamped with a 2014 Department of Defense contract number and the name of Ball Aerospace Technologies (now part of BAE Systems), which has publicly documented Tomahawk contracts. A second fragment bore the name Globe Motors, an 🌰Ohio-based manufacturer that the federal government's open spending database shows has been awarded millions in Pentagon contracts specifically for Tomahawk actuator guidance components. TBTrevor Ball, a former U.S. Army explosive ordnance disposal specialist with Bellingcat, confirmed both components matched Tomahawk debris cataloged from other conflict zones including Yemen and Syria.

The second evidentiary thread is video. Bellingcat and BBC Verify independently geolocated footage uploaded to Telegram by Iran's semi-official Mehr News Agency on March 8 showing what they identified as a cruise missile striking a building in the naval complex adjacent to the school. Eight independent munitions experts consulted by the 🌲Washington Post and other outlets identified the missile in the video as a Tomahawk based on its flight characteristics, fin configuration, and distinctive exhaust plume. The NYT noted that 'a single errant missile would not have caused such precise and targeted damage to several buildings across the naval base' — the school area was struck at least three times in what investigators concluded was a deliberate precision strike on the adjacent IRGC facility.

The third thread is the military record. The U.S. Defense Department itself released video on Feb. 28 showing Navy warships launching Tomahawks at southern Iranian targets on the first day of Operation Epic Fury. GDGen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed in two separate Pentagon briefings that 'the first shooters at sea were Tomahawks unleashed by the United States Navy' during operations along Iran's southern coastline — the exact geographic area where Minab is located. The U.S. and Israel had divided their strikes geographically, with the U.S. taking southern Iran. There is no documented Israeli use of Tomahawks.

Trump's explanation — that Iran had Tomahawks — was immediately rebutted by weapons experts across multiple outlets. Tomahawk cruise missiles are manufactured exclusively by Raytheon in the United States. The only foreign militaries that possess Tomahawks are the U.K. and Australia, both of which received them through formal government-to-government arms sale agreements. Japan agreed to purchase Tomahawks in 2024, and the Netherlands in 2025, but neither had received delivery by Feb. 2026. Iran remains under comprehensive U.S. and EU arms embargoes in place since 1979, making legal acquisition impossible. Even if Iran had somehow obtained a Tomahawk, experts noted it lacks the specialized software, targeting infrastructure, and compatible launch systems required to operate one. Iran's own cruise missiles — the Soumar and Ya Ali — are visually distinct from the Tomahawk and would not be mistaken by any weapons analyst.

Two American military personnel involved in the Pentagon's internal investigation told Reuters on March 5 that they believed the attack was 'likely perpetrated by the United States,' though the final investigation conclusion had not been released. Defense Secretary PHPete Hegseth said the Pentagon was investigating and repeated Trump's claim that 'the only side that targets civilians is Iran.' Hegseth simultaneously announced the campaign would shift away from precision munitions like Tomahawks toward cheaper laser-guided bombs — a cost-driven decision that weapons analysts noted would likely increase the risk of civilian casualties in future strikes.

The CBC's investigation provided the most detailed structural analysis of the school's relationship to the adjacent IRGC base. CBC confirmed the school was 'struck as part of a precision airstrike on a military complex immediately adjacent to the building' and that the school 'was once part of' the IRGC base that was supposedly being targeted. Minab's mayor confirmed the base had been closed roughly 15 years before the strike. The Guardian separately determined there was 'no indication' the school compound served a military purpose and found the buildings adjacent to it were a medical clinic and a pharmacy. These findings together formed the basis for UNICEF's statement expressing 'alarm over child casualties' and UNESCO's characterization of the attack as a 'potential grave violation of international humanitarian law.'