US forces likely behind Iran school strike that killed 160 girls, probe suggests

A week after what can be called one of the “deadliest” civilian casualty episodes, a detailed report by The New York Times “debunked” many online theories, concluding that the missile that hit the school complex in the southern Iranian city of Minab was a precision target strike consistent with those carried out by the United States in the recent conflict. The Times report, quoting Wes J. Bryant, a national security analyst who served in the US Air Force, rejects the idea that a “single errant missile” could have caused the kind of precise, targeted damage seen in the satellite images.

India Today’s Open Source Intelligence team sifted through historical satellite images to show that the girls’ school, originally located within the perimeter of a military complex until 2013, was later separated from the complex for civilian use. Satellite images of the Minab school since 2013 show boundary walls built, roads laid, and a separate entry gate created to clearly isolate this section from the adjacent military complex.

Israel says it is “not aware of any Israeli operation in that part of Iran,” while the US has said the “matter is under investigation.”