Bellingcat authenticated the video (video, 3:18) using timing data, geolocation, satellite imagery and analysis of the locations of trees, streets, sidewalks, etc. and tools like Google Earth Pro. Bellingcat also compared images of the falling missile to open source details of the physical appearance of U.S. Tomahawk missiles easily available on the internet. Tomahawk missiles are manufactured by Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, AZ.
The school was located near an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base.
On Air Force One, in response to reporter’s question about who was responsible for bombing the Iranian girls school, convicted felon/sexual abuser/President Trump responded, “In my opinion, based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth followed up with the comment, “We’re certainly investigating, but the only side that targets civilians is Iran.”
U.S. officials’ denials beg incredulity.
For Iran to have bombed its own elementary school, the country would have had to procure a Tomahawk cruise missile at a cost of roughly U.S. $2.5 million — a kind of missile it has no access to and isn’t known to use — learn how to use it and deploy it on the exact date and time and at the exact same location that other U.S. bombs were hitting the area on the first day of the war.
The likelihood of the scenario Trump and Hegseth advanced, that Iran bombed its own school either intentionally or by mistake due to faulty and inaccurate guidance systems, seems improbable at best.
Presidential spokesperson Karoline Levitt also denied that a U.S. missile could have been responsible for killing the Iranian school children:
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Americans have a right to expect the U.S. government to hold off on making any pronouncements about who is responsibile for deaths until the facts of an incident have been well-established and made public.
Below is Reuters drone footage of graves being prepared for school bombing victims (Reuters via Instagram):