'I'm willing to live with that', says Trump on being asked whether US strikes killed more than 100 schoolgirls in Iran

Donald Trump

• Strike on Iranian girls’ school killed over 170, mostly students
• Evidence suggests US-made Tomahawk missile hit the school
• US and Iran trade blame; Pentagon investigates incident

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Fresh reports and investigations have raised questions about the strike that hit a girls’ school in Minab in Iran, killing around 170 people, many of them students, during the opening day of the conflict on February 28.

As scrutiny intensified, Donald Trump initially said he did not “know enough” about the incident but later said he would be willing to “live with” whatever conclusions an investigation reaches.

The strike reportedly targeted the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school during the early phase of the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran. Iranian authorities say more than 170 people were killed in the attack, with over 100 of them believed to be students.

Investigations by media organisations including BBC and The New York Times, along with findings cited by rights groups, have suggested that a US-made Tomahawk cruise missile may have been involved in the strike.

According to The New York Times, evidence collected from different sources points to a precision strike at the school site.

“A body of evidence… including satellite imagery, social media posts and other verified videos, indicates that the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school building was severely damaged by a precision strike that occurred at the same time as attacks on the naval base.”

The report also noted that the only military in the conflict known to be using Tomahawk missiles is the United States.

Footage reviewed by The New York Times and the BBC reportedly showed dust and smoke rising from the direction of the school, indicating at least one earlier explosion.

Meanwhile, the United States Central Command has released footage showing Tomahawk missile launches filmed on February 28, the same day the strike occurred in Minab. Senior US officers also briefed that early attacks during the opening phase of the war included Navy Tomahawk launches targeting locations across Iran’s southern flank, according to Agence France-Presse.

The US administration has continued to blame Iran for the incident. The Pentagon has said it is investigating what happened.

Iranian officials have rejected suggestions that Tehran could have carried out the strike itself in order to shift blame onto the United States or Israel.

“Who is attacking us? It's the US and Israel. We are not the aggressors here,” Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has described the incident as part of US-Israeli strikes. State media reported that funerals were held for at least 165 victims, including several students killed in the attack.