Investigating Israeli Claims of an Iranian Missile Strike on Minab School

During the Israeli–U.S. strikes on Iran on February 28, 2026, a girls’ primary school named Shajarat Tayyiba in the Minab area of coastal Hormozgan province was reportedly hit. Iranian officials stated that the strike resulted from an Israeli air raid, with casualties reported at 165 at the time, according to Iran’s ILNA news agency, citing Minab Governor Mohammad Radmehr.

Based on geolocation data and available visual content from the site, Misbar’s team at Al-Araby TV identified the school’s coordinates as 27.109879, 57.084718.

As shown in the images, the visual elements in the footage align with the location marked on Google Earth.

Meanwhile, both the United States and Israel, through their military spokespersons, denied any knowledge of an attack targeting the school. At the same time, social media claims suggested that the school had been struck by a missile fired by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

These claims were promoted by Israeli accounts citing alleged evidence, most notably a photo circulated as showing a failed Iranian missile launch—the same missile purportedly said to have struck the school.

However, a geographic verification of the circulated photo, claimed to depict a failed missile that struck the school, shows that it was taken from a location at least 1,300 kilometers away. While the school is in Minab city, southeastern Iran, the photo was captured in Zanjan, northwestern Iran, at coordinates 36.684299, 48.487091.

The claims also cited alleged statements from individuals described as Iranian officials admitting that the school had been hit due to a failed missile launch. These statements were circulated on Telegram channels with histories of opposing the Iranian regime or promoting narratives supporting the return of the Shah.

In the absence of evidence that the school was struck by friendly fire, there are indications the attack may have been the result of a targeting error, especially as the school is located within a complex belonging to the Revolutionary Guard Navy.

This is supported by facilities within the complex, where a sign visible on Google images reads: “Naval Medical Services Command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”

While the walled complex is believed to house civil services for Revolutionary Guard Navy personnel rather than military headquarters, a nearby drone runway located close to the school may have been the intended target.

Additionally, Misbar’s team identified a drone runway less than one kilometer from the school and verified it as a drone facility based on a YouTube video published on March 18, 2012, showing a report from Iran’s PressTV. Although the original channel has been deleted, Misbar located an archived version of the video, which shows what appears to be an Ababil-3 drone taking off from one of the runways, followed by monitoring screens displaying successive coordinates for two locations.

Using Google Maps, Misbar's team traced these coordinates and found that the two points are 2.11 kilometers and 8.31 kilometers, respectively, from the only runway in the area. The coordinates are:

First location: 27°04'34.5"N 57°04'38.9"E

Second location: 27°02'36.0"N 57°00'27.9"E

Furthermore, a scene from the video contains visual markers confirming that the runway shown is the same one located near the targeted Minab school.

Finally, satellite imagery indicates that this runway has existed at the site since at least 2001 and has undergone renovations and construction in the surrounding area since December 2023.

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