President Trump on Saturday pointed the finger squarely at Iran for the destruction of Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, an attack that killed over 165 people, mostly children. Asked aboard Air Force One whether U.S. forces were responsible, Trump was unequivocal.
"No, and based on what I've seen, that was done by Iran."
The President added that Iran is "very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions" and that the regime has "no accuracy whatsoever." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth backed that assessment with a sharper edge, stating plainly: "The only side that targets civilians is Iran."
Neither the United States nor Iran has accepted responsibility for the attack. But the administration's posture is clear: this was Iran's doing, and the investigation will bear that out.
The strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School produced the highest reported civilian death toll since the joint U.S.-Israeli operation began. According to The Associated Press, citing Iranian state media, over 165 people died, the vast majority of them children.
Sources cited by Middle East Eye said the school was struck twice. The second strike killed survivors who had been sheltering in the rubble. That detail alone should command the world's attention, and it demands a serious, transparent investigation into who launched the munitions, as The Hill reports.
Several media outlets, including The Associated Press and Reuters, reported that the explosions were likely caused by U.S. airstrikes. The AP cited experts reviewing satellite imagery. Reuters reported that U.S. military investigators said a U.S. strike likely destroyed the school, though the investigation remains ongoing.
Wes J. Bryant, a former senior adviser on civilian harm at the Pentagon, told The New York Times that the school and nearby buildings were hit with "picture-perfect" targeted strikes but attributed the school's destruction to "target misidentification," suggesting U.S. forces did not realize civilians were inside.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked on Wednesday whether U.S. airstrikes hit the school. Her answer: "Not that we know of." She confirmed the Department of Defense was investigating and accused reporters of falling for Iranian "propaganda."
"So I would caution you from pointing the finger at the United States of America when it comes to targeting civilians, because that's not something these armed forces do."
Hegseth, for his part, acknowledged that the inquiry is active. "We're certainly investigating," he said. But he left no ambiguity about where the administration believes moral culpability lies.
There is an important distinction between what happened operationally and who bears strategic responsibility. Even Bryant's assessment, the most critical analysis cited in reporting, described precision strikes that hit their intended coordinates. If civilian deaths resulted from misidentification of a target, that is a question about intelligence sourcing, not about American forces deliberately targeting children. Iran, which embeds military infrastructure in civilian populations and has spent decades perfecting the art of human shields, understands this distinction perfectly well. It counts on the Western press not to.
The rush to pin this on American forces follows a familiar pattern. Iranian state media produces casualty figures. Western outlets amplify them with minimal independent verification. Reporters then confront U.S. officials with those figures as fact, demanding they accept blame in real time while an investigation is still underway.
This is not journalism. It is a laundering operation for regime propaganda, and every cycle works the same way.
Consider the sourcing chain: Iranian state media provides the death toll. The AP cites Iranian state media. Reporters cite the AP. And suddenly the White House press secretary is being asked to answer for numbers produced by a theocratic regime that executes its own citizens for not wearing hijabs. The same regime that has no free press, no independent coroners, and every incentive to maximize reported casualties for global sympathy.
None of this means the deaths aren't real or that the loss of children isn't horrifying. It is. Over 165 dead, mostly children, is a catastrophe regardless of who is responsible. But grief and accountability are not the same thing, and allowing a terrorist-sponsoring government to dictate the narrative of accountability is a choice the press keeps making.
The President attended the dignified transfer of six U.S. service members killed in Kuwait on March 1. Six Americans came home in flag-draped coffins. That is the reason this operation exists. American men and women died, and the United States responded.
Iran's regime funds, arms, and directs proxy forces across the Middle East. It has done so for decades. When those proxies kill Americans, the United States has every right, and every obligation, to respond with overwhelming force directed at military targets. The question of whether a specific strike hit an unintended civilian site is a serious operational matter that deserves a thorough investigation. It is not, however, an indictment of the mission itself.
The press would like to collapse those two things into one. They want the horror of dead children to retroactively delegitimize the entire campaign. That framing serves Tehran's interests, not America's, and not the truth's.
The Department of Defense investigation is ongoing. If American munitions struck that school due to faulty intelligence or target misidentification, the facts will emerge through that process. The U.S. military, unlike Iran's, investigates its own actions and publishes findings. That distinction matters more than any reporter's gotcha question at a press briefing.
Meanwhile, the regime in Tehran will continue to exploit every civilian death it can, including the ones it causes itself. It has done so in Lebanon, in Yemen, in Iraq, and in Syria. The playbook never changes. Only the credulity of the audience varies.
Over 165 people are dead, most of them children who walked into a school and never walked out. Someone is responsible for that. The administration says it was Iran. The investigation will determine the truth. But the American press might consider, just once, waiting for the facts before delivering Tehran's verdict for them.
