JERUSALEM (AP) — Satellite images, expert analysis, a U.S. official and public information released by the U.S. and Israeli militaries suggest an explosion that killed scores of Iranian students at a school was likely caused by U.S. airstrikes that also hit an adjacent compound associated with the regime's Revolutionary Guard.
The Feb. 28 strike, which had the highest reported civilian death toll since the war began, has come under staunch criticism from the United Nations and human rights monitors. More than 165 people were killed, most of them of children, in the blast during school hours at Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School, according to Iranian state media.
Satellite images taken Wednesday and reviewed by the The Associated Press show most of the school in the city of Minab, some 1,100 kilometers (680 miles) southeast of Tehran, reduced to rubble, a crescent shape punched into its roof. Experts say the tight pattern of damage visible on the satellite photos is consistent with a targeted airstrike.
Iran has blamed Israel and the United States for the blast. Neither country has accepted responsibility. Asked about the strike at the school at a Pentagon media briefing Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, “All I can say is that we’re investigating that. We, of course, never target civilian targets. But we’re taking a look and investigating that.”
Several factors point to a U.S. strike.
One is the launching of an assessment of the incident by the U.S. military. According to the Pentagon's instructions on processes for mitigating civilian harm, an assessment is launched after a group of investigators make an initial determination that the U.S. military may bear culpability. A U.S. official told the AP that the strike was likely U.S. The official spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to comment publicly on the sensitive matter.
Another is the location of the school — next to a Revolutionary Guard base in Hormozgan Province and close to barracks for its naval brigade. The U.S. military has focused on naval targets and acknowledged strikes in the province, including one in the vicinity of the school.
Israel, which has denied conducting the strike, has focused on areas of Iran closer to Israel and hasn’t reported any strikes south of Isfahan, 800 kilometers (500 miles) away. The U.S. is operating warships in the Arabian Sea, including the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, within range of the school.
When asked by the AP about its findings, U.S. military Central Command spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins said, “It would be inappropriate to comment given the incident is under investigation.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Friday that she had no updates on the investigation and did not directly answer a question about whether President Donald Trump was satisfied with the pace of the probe.
“My assumption is that probably there were some activities recently there and they detected and tracked them, but ... they weren't aware or didn't have an up-to-date database that a girls' school was there and they bombed it," said Farzin Nadimi, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who studies Iran’s military.
The school is adjacent to a walled compound labeled on maps as the Seyyed Al-Shohada Cultural Complex of the Guard. In addition to the school, satellite photos show that blasts struck at least five buildings in the Guard compound, leaving the area pocked with craters, charred holes in roofs and piles of rubble.
Iranian online map applications show a living quarters for the Assef Brigades about 150 meters (165 yards) from the school, inside the Revolutionary Guard compound. The 16th Assef Coastal Missile Group is part of the Guard's navy, Nadimi said. The 1st Naval District, which the Assef Brigades belong to, is responsible for the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas traded passes. The strait has been a particular point of conflict in the war.
In the aftermath of the strike, video from Iran's state broadcaster verified by the AP using satellite imagery showed dozens of fresh graves dug at a nearby cemetery. Nadimi said it is likely the school taught daughters of Guard personnel.
The strike has drawn wide condemnation from the secretary-general of the United Nations and international human rights groups. The criticism comes amid reports that airstrikes have also hit other schools in Iran.
Targeting schools would be a clear violation of international laws governing armed conflict, said Elise Baker, a senior staff lawyer at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based nonprofit think tank.
“Strikes can only legally target military objectives and combatants, but the school was a civilian object and the students and teachers were civilians,” Baker said. “The school’s proximity to (Guard) facilities and the attendance of children of (Guard) members at the school does not change that conclusion: It was a civilian object.”
Three experts told the AP the satellite imagery and videos from the scene strongly suggested multiple munitions hit the compound. Complicating any assessment is the lack of images of bomb fragments from the blast. No independent agency has reached the site during the war to investigate.
There are no craters or evidence of bombs hitting in the surrounding neighborhood, suggesting a great degree of accuracy, said Corey Scher, a researcher who uses satellite imagery and radar data to study landscape changes in armed conflict zones.
“All the strikes are clustered within the walled-off compound," Scher said. "That’s one level of precision at the block level. And then most of the strikes are basically leading to direct hits on buildings. That’s another level of precision.”
Scher said the school and the other buildings struck in the compound showed damage consistent with the use of air-to-surface munitions.
“They didn’t explode in the air above the building," he said. “It looks like the explosion happened at the time they hit the surface, whether it was the building or the ground."
Sean Moorhouse, a former British Army officer and explosive ordnance disposal expert, said the available satellite imagery was insufficient to determine exactly what type of munitions were used in the strike, but he said the visible damage was consistent with what would be expected with impacts from multiple 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) high-explosive warheads. He said the multiple precise impacts would undercut any suggestion that a malfunctioning Iranian missile hit the school.
N.R. Jenzen-Jones, the director of Armament Research Services, said the school and Guard compound were targeted with “multiple simultaneous or near-simultaneous strikes."
“If indeed it is confirmed that an American or Israeli strike hit the school, there are several potential points of failure in the targeting cycle,” Jenzen-Jones said. “We might be seeing an intelligence failure, likely rather early in the process, which misidentified the target or failed to update a targeting list following the building’s change in use.”
He said in videos of the school taken immediately after the strike, smoke can be seen rising from the Guard compound. There were also impacts on multiple buildings visible in satellite images and media reports citing witnesses who said they heard multiple explosions.
U.N. Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said the investigation results needed to be made public.
“The families of the little girls who were killed are entitled to the truth of how this happened," she said.
Biesecker reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Konstantin Toropin and Michelle Price in Washington; Aamer Madhani in Doral, Florida; and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.
A Dept. of Defense map entitled, Operation EPIC FURY Timeline - First 100 Hours, is displayed during a news conference with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, at the Pentagon, Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Konstantin Toropin)
Iran’s president rejected a demand by the United States for an unconditional surrender on Saturday and apologized for Iran’s attacks on regional countries, as Israel and the United States kept up their airstrikes targeting the Islamic Republic.
Gulf countries say they have intercepted more ballistic missiles and drones launched from Iran.
Saudi Arabia said it stopped four drones attacking the country’s massive Shaybah oil field, the second attack within hours. Flights in and out of Dubai International Airport were interrupted after passengers were ushered down into train tunnels as several blasts were heard and the alert sounded.
Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes hammered Beirut and Tehran. Death toll continued to rise Saturday with at least 1,230 people killed in Iran, more than 200 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel, according to officials. Six U.S. troops were reported killed.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration approved a new $151 million arms sale to Israel after Trump said he would not negotiate with Iran without its “unconditional surrender.”
Here is the latest:
Bahrain’s military intercepted two missiles and a drone on Saturday, the Defense Ministry said.
That brought to 86 missiles and 148 drones that have been intercepted over Bahrain since the U.S. and Israel launched war against Iran last weekend.
India’s foreign minister said Saturday that an Iranian naval vessel has docked in India, after a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship and another vessel sought assistance from Sri Lanka.
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said the IRIS Lavan is docked in southern Kochi city, after India granted permission when the vessel reported “having problems” on March 1. “I think it was the humane thing to do,” Jaishankar said.
A U.S. submarine sank the Iranian warship IRIS Dena off the coast of Sri Lanka on Wednesday. Another vessel, the IRIS Bushehr, requested assistance from Sri Lanka and more than 200 sailors were brought ashore. Both ships had previously taken part in naval exercises hosted by India, but Jaishankar said they got “caught on the wrong side of events” once the war began.
Dubai and its long-haul carrier Emirates said Saturday the airline would resume operations after temporarily halting them following an Iranian attack on the city-state.
The news brought cheers in Dubai International Airport, where passengers had been sheltering after hearing a large boom overhead.
Authorities have not explained if there was an interception or damage at the airport, which is the world’s busiest for international travel.
An Israeli airstrike flattened a residential building in southern Lebanon, killing at least six people early Saturday, the country’s state-run news agency reported.
The dead from the strike in Jibchit town included four from the same family, the National News Agency said.
The Lebanese Health Ministry earlier reported at least 16 killed and 35 wounded in overnight Israeli airstrikes in the mountain town of Nabi Chit.
Sirens sounded in Bahrain ahead of a potential attack for the fifth time Saturday, the interior ministry said, urging people to head to the nearest safe location.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said Saturday that Israeli airstrikes killed at least 16 people and wounded 35 others in overnight Israeli airstrikes in the mountain town of Nabi Chit.
The Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah said its fighters clashed with an Israeli force that landed late Friday in the mountains of eastern Lebanon.
Israel has yet to comment on the fighting there.
The Dubai Media Office issued a statement on behalf of the city-state, saying: “For the safety of passengers, airport staff, and airline crew, operations at Dubai International (DXB) have been temporarily suspended.”
It did not give a reason for the suspension, which came after passengers there heard a loud boom while sheltering.
Masoud Pezeshkian said the country’s three-man leadership council had been in touch with the armed forces over the attacks.
“I should apologize to the neighboring countries that were attacked by Iran, on my own behalf,” the president said. “From now on, they should not attack neighboring countries or fire missiles at them, unless we are attacked by those countries. I think we should solve this through diplomacy.”
He also suggested miscommunication in the ranks caused it. However, his statement aired after repeated attacks Saturday morning on Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which has been at the forefront of the war, answers only to the country’s supreme leader. However, an Israeli airstrike killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, at the start of the war on Feb. 28.
Pezeshkian, in his comments, specifically blamed the killing of Khamenei and other top leaders for what sounded like a loss of command and control in the armed forces for days.
It remained unclear just what command Pezeshkian and the leadership council could exert over the armed forces.
Iranian state television, after airing his speech, immediately went back to praising the country’s ongoing attacks across the region.
Passengers at Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel, heard a boom while sheltering in train tunnels at the massive facility.
Emirates has been trying to get its sprawling travel network up and running after several days of halting flights due to the war.
Iran’s president said Saturday that a demand by the United States for an unconditional surrender is a “dream that they should take to their grave.”
President Masoud Pezeshkian made the statement in a prerecorded address aired by state television.
Pakistan cited a surge in global oil prices due to the war in the Middle East.
Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar announced the 55-rupee-per-liter (about $0.20) increase overnight, saying the government had little choice but to pass on the impact of rising international prices.
Pakistan relies heavily on imported oil, mainly from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.
The Israeli military said the Imam Hussein University in Tehran was used for the training of Revolutionary Guard officers and contained “multiple military assets” used by the Revolutionary Guard.
It said over 80 fighter jets participated in the latest wave of strikes on Saturday, which also targeted an underground compound used for storing ballistic missiles and housing command centers from where the army said “senior officials of the Iranian regime” were operating.
Targets also included launch sites in central and western Iran, the army said.
Explosions echoed across Iran’s capital, Tehran, Saturday morning as new airstrikes hit the city.
The strikes appeared to target downtown Tehran and government buildings there.
Passengers waiting for flights at Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel, found themselves ushered down into train tunnels at the sprawling airfield after missile alert sounded.
Mobile phone alerts sounded Saturday morning in Dubai over “potential missile threats.” Emirati authorities urged the public to seek immediate shelter.
Emirati air defenses had activated over the missile threat, the government added.
Trump berated a reporter for raising the matter when the president opened the floor to questions from the media at the end of a White House meeting about how paying student-athletes has recalibrated college sports.
“I have a lot of respect for you, you’ve always been very nice to me,” Trump said to Peter Doocy, the Fox News reporter. “What a stupid question that is to be asking at this time. We’re talking about something else.”
People headed to bomb shelters across Israel early Saturday after hearing loud booms as Iranian missiles attacked more targets.
There were no immediate reports of casualties by Israel’s emergency services.
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Plumes of smoke rise as strikes hit the city during the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
