Conflict · ArchiveSky News Investigation: US Tomahawk Missile Killed 156 at Iran School, 120 ChildrenAired July 22, 2026 at 4:20 AM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00A devastating new open-source0:01investigation from Sky News has0:03confirmed what families in Minab, Iran0:05have been saying for nearly 5 months.0:07The report identifies a United States0:09Tomahawk cruise missile as the weapon0:11that struck Shajarah Tayebah primary0:13school on February 28th, 2026, killing0:15156 people, 120 of them children, 26 of0:19them teachers. The United States0:21military has not published its own0:23investigation, and President Trump has0:25repeatedly denied responsibility. The0:27school was located in Minab, a small0:29city in Iran's southern Hormozgan0:31province, roughly 50 km east of Bandar0:34Abbas. Seven independent experts0:36reviewed the evidence for Sky News, and0:37all concluded the United States was0:39responsible. An independent monitoring0:41group, Airwars, counted 157 dead,0:43including 123 children aged 13 or0:45younger, and 34 adults. Sky News0:47identified the weapon as a Tomahawk by0:49analyzing debris fragments recovered at0:51the scene, matching them to known0:53specifications of the US-made cruise0:55missile. A US official told the0:56Associated Press that a preliminary0:58inquiry confirmed American0:59responsibility, but the administration1:01has not formally accepted blame. The1:03numbers are staggering. 156 lives lost1:06in a single precision strike. 120 of1:09them were children under the age of 131:11attending school on a Friday morning. 261:13teachers died alongside them. The1:15investigation reveals that the building1:17had been identified as a school by an1:19analyst 7 years ago. That information1:21was never disseminated among target1:23developers. The failure has raised1:25serious questions about intelligence1:26sharing protocols within the US1:28military. A former Pentagon official1:30pointed directly to Trump administration1:32cuts at the Civilian Protection Center1:34of Excellence, which reduced staff1:36working on civilian harm mitigation.1:38Critics say those cuts created an1:40environment where such failures became1:42more likely.1:43The Pentagon has still not released any1:44formal finding. On Capitol Hill, 251:47Senate Democrats have signed a letter1:48demanding the Pentagon release its1:50investigation by July 20th. The Senate1:52Armed Services Committee has gone1:54further, threatening to freeze Defense1:56Secretary Pete Hegseth's travel budget1:58over the lack of transparency. Senator2:00Mike Rounds, a Republican on the Armed2:02Services and Intelligence Committees,2:04has not taken a public position on the2:05letter. President Trump has repeatedly2:07denied United States responsibility,2:09suggesting Iran or someone else fired2:12the missile. But Sky News correspondent2:14Mark Stone reported that the evidence is2:16conclusive. The debris, the trajectory,2:18the blast pattern, all point to a US2:20Tomahawk. The families of Minab have2:22been waiting nearly 5 months for an2:24answer. The Sky News investigation has2:26given them one. The question now is2:28whether Washington will follow.Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSSThe shortThe short ↗