Iran School Attacks: Deliberate Targeting Likely – Al Jazeera

On Saturday morning, February 28, 2026, missiles struck the “Shajareh Tayyebeh” (The Good Tree) school in Minab, southern Iran, as initial strikes by Israel and the United States began in the country, destroying the building and collapsing the roof on students and teachers.

Iran School Strike: Investigation Reveals Deliberate Targeting

Iranian authorities have reported a final death toll of 165 people, the majority of whom were girls aged between 7 and 12. At least 95 others were wounded in the attack.

Following the dissemination of images depicting the aftermath of the strike, Israeli and US authorities attempted to distance themselves from the incident. Spokespeople for the US Department of Defense and the Israeli army stated to Time magazine and the Associated Press that they were unaware a school had been hit.

Some websites and social media accounts linked to Israel claimed the site was “part of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base.” However, an analysis by Al Jazeera’s digital investigations unit, utilizing over a decade of satellite imagery, recent video clips, news reports, and official Iranian statements, contradicts these claims.

The investigation revealed that the school had been clearly separate from an adjacent military site for at least 10 years. The analysis also raises questions about the accuracy of the intelligence information used to authorize the bombing, and whether the strike was a deliberate targeting of the school.

The Importance of Minab and the Targeted Military Square

Minab is located in Hormozgan in southeastern Iran, a province of significant military importance due to its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf waters. This makes it a key hub for operations of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval forces, NEDSA.

The IRGC Navy employs an “asymmetric warfare” strategy, utilizing fast boats, drones, and coastal missile platforms. The “Sayyid al-Shuhada” military complex in Minab is a key location, including the headquarters of the “Asif Brigade,” considered one of the most important strike arms of the IRGC Navy.

The Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab is part of a network of schools structurally and administratively affiliated with the IRGC Navy, intended primarily to provide educational services to the children of IRGC Navy members. Registration messages from a channel on the Iranian messaging app, “Baleh,” show priority admission for the children of military personnel.

Despite this administrative link, the schools retain their legal status as civilian facilities under international humanitarian law, unless used in military operations. Children attending these schools, regardless of their parents’ military affiliation, remain protected persons in armed conflicts.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has condemned the bombing as a “horrific crime and a consolidation of the collapse of civilian protection,” emphasizing that the presence of nearby military facilities does not absolve US and Israeli forces of their legal obligation to verify the target.

What Do We Know About the Strike and Its Timing?

On the first day of the school week in Iran, US-Israeli strikes began, hitting various sites in Minab and Hormozgan province. Despite the attacks, life in the city continued with children attending school and normal traffic patterns observed.

Satellite images from that day show the school building was intact until 10:23am local time (06:53 GMT). By 10:45am (07:15 GMT), local and official Iranian sources reported the school was directly hit by a guided missile.

Analysis of two video clips posted on Telegram shortly after the bombing, geolocated using landmarks and satellite imagery, confirmed the strike. The first clip showed smoke rising from the military block affiliated with the Sayyid al-Shuhada base, while the second showed two separate columns of smoke – one from the military base and one from the school.

The distance between the smoke columns matched the distance separating the two areas, indicating a direct, separate strike on the school, rather than damage from shrapnel.

Timeline of Separating the Civilian Building from the Military Base

Archived satellite images from 2013 show the school area as fully integrated within the Sayyid al-Shuhada military complex, surrounded by security watchtowers and a single entry gate.

In 2016, significant changes occurred, with internal walls constructed to fully separate the school building from the rest of the military block. Two watchtowers were dismantled, and three new external gates were opened for student and staff access.

By 2018, satellite images showed intense civilian activity, including civilian cars, a children’s sports field, and brightly painted walls, confirming the school’s operation as a primary school.

The Martyr Absalan Clinic as Corroborating Evidence

To demonstrate awareness of the site’s updated layout, the opening of the Martyr Absalan Specialised Clinic was examined. Inaugurated in January 2025, the clinic was built on an area adjacent to the military complex and equipped with medical facilities, including paediatrics, obstetrics, and dentistry.

Similar to the school, the clinic required spatial separation from the military base, with a separate gate and dedicated parking. This resulted in three independent sectors: the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ school, the Martyr Absalan Specialised Clinic, and the Sayyid al-Shuhada military complex.

Analysis of strike locations on February 28, 2026, revealed that missiles hit the military base and the school, but bypassed the clinic complex. This suggests the attackers possessed coordinates and maps distinguishing between the complex’s facilities.

If intelligence was accurate enough to spare the clinic, the failure to identify the school, separated from the military complex for over 10 years, raises concerns about either a grave intelligence failure or a deliberate strike.

Misleading Claims

Following the attack, accounts on X platform affiliated with Israeli parties circulated claims that the school was destroyed by a failed Iranian air defence missile. However, reverse image searches and geolocation revealed the image used originated from an incident near Zanjan, northwestern Iran, approximately 1,300km (808 miles) from Minab.

The differing terrain and climate between Minab and Zanjan refuted the claim. Iranian sources reported the Zanjan incident involved the successful interception of two hostile drones.

The Minab school incident is consistent with a pattern of civilian facilities being targeted by US and Israeli militaries, followed by denial or blame-shifting. Historical examples include the 1970 Bahr al-Baqar school bombing in Egypt, the 1991 Amiriyah shelter bombing in Baghdad, the 1996 Qana shelling in Lebanon, and the 2015 Kunduz hospital bombing in Afghanistan, as well as recent attacks on schools in Gaza.

Testimony from Shiva Amilairad, a representative of the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Unions, to Time magazine indicated that evacuation orders were issued upon the start of the attacks, but the short timeframe between the warning and the strike prevented many parents from reaching the school.

Authorities were forced to use mobile refrigerated trucks due to exhausted morgue capacity. Some families lost more than one child in the incident.

The ability to spare adjacent facilities like the Martyr Absalan clinic, coupled with the failure to avoid the school, suggests either reliance on outdated intelligence or a deliberate strike intended to inflict maximum societal shock.