Photo: Ali Najafi / ISNA / AFP via Getty Images
Investigations
On Feb. 28, during an operation by the U.S.-Israeli coalition in Iran, an explosion destroyed a school in the city of Minab (Hormozgan province). As of Mar. 4, this remains the first incident in the course of the military operation involving large-scale civilian casualties. What exactly happened remains unclear, but Iranian officials say the school was destroyed in a missile strike that killed 168 people. According to Al Jazeera journalists, the choice to target such an object for a strike may be explained by outdated intelligence. Parents of the deceased children told NBC that the building housing the school had previously served as an IRGC base. The Insider, together with the project Vox Harbor, which analyzes Telegram posts, examined numerous messages from verified Minab residents. They confirm what NBC’s sources say: the school was indeed located in one of the former IRGC buildings.
Among the many people commenting on the events in Minab as eyewitnesses, The Insider and Vox Harbor verified six individuals as genuine local residents, as they had been commenting on life in the city long before the strike. For example, Local Resident 1 (The Insider has access to the usernames of this and other mentioned users but, for security reasons, is not disclosing them) has been posting on Telegram since May 2022. He is a member of 55 groups and has written more than 16,000 messages. Before the strike, he wrote that he was originally from Kerman but lives in Minab (November 2022) and that his father owns a construction company in Hormozgan (August 2022). He also shared news about the arson attack on a Basij base in Minab during the 2022 protests. On Feb. 28, he wrote in the Ecoiran chat:
“I'm from Minab myself. The school and clinic belong to IRGC. Behind the school is an IRGC munitions warehouse. Now tell me — what bastard puts military munitions next to a school and clinic?”
Five minutes later, he added a new detail in another group (an IT security chat): the strike was carried out by Israel, but an IRGC warehouse was located behind the school, and no evacuation order was issued for the school.
Local Resident 2 is an account registered in May 2020. The user is a member of 90 groups and has posted around 1,900 messages. For more than a year, he followed Minab’s local sports team, writing at least 12 messages about match results (“Minab won,” “Minab champions”). On Feb. 28, he wrote in the FootBad GP football chat:
“I’m from Minab myself and was at the scene. So far, the number [of casualties] is even higher than what is being reported.”
This testimony comes from an eyewitness who most likely was present at the scene of the tragedy.
![[object Object]](data:image/jpeg;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAAAAAA6fptVAAAACklEQVR4nGNiAAAABgADNjd8qAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==)
Satellite image of the IRGC base premises and the school before the strike
Satellite image of the IRGC base premises and the school after the strike
The account of Local Resident 3 was registered in June 2025, is a member of six groups, and has posted more than 14,000 messages. Before the strike, he mentioned Sirik (a city between Minab and Jask), writing, “You went to Minab, you jerk” (January 2025) and “Our city got flooded” (December 2024). In the group “Ideological Shelter” (2,200 members) he wrote on Feb. 28:
“Bro, I'm from Minab. These fuckers built the school INSIDE the base compound. Obviously the school gets hit too. I swear to God they built it there on purpose — for days like this, to play victim.”
Local Resident 4 is a rescuer who took part in clearing the rubble. The account was registered in June 2025. Before the strike, he wrote: “The last [shell] flew over our house in Bandar Abbas” (September 2025). On Mar. 1, 2026, he reported:
“I'm from Minab myself. I went there for the rescue work. The school belonged to IRGC. It had over 400 students and teachers.”
Another user, a student preparing for entrance exams, provided the earliest testimony chronologically. On Feb. 28, he wrote in an academic chat that he was in Minab and heard three shockwaves near his home. According to his account, the entire area was shaking, and the IRGC ordered the evacuation of the settlement. However, his geolocation verification is weak: the account has existed for only three months, he is a member of just one group, and his message history contains no mentions of Minab or Hormozgan before the strike. Nevertheless, looking at the pattern of destruction at the IRGC base, one can count exactly three clearly destroyed buildings, one of them being the school.
Local Resident 5, a midwifery student in Bandar Abbas, also highlights the school’s connection to the IRGC. Her account was registered in July 2024 and is a member of 30 groups. In August 2025, she wrote that she was studying for a bachelor’s degree in Bandar Abbas and was not living in a dormitory. She confirmed the same key fact: the school was a charitable institution founded by the IRGC Navy. Her post was written in response to unfounded claims that the authorities themselves shelled the school:
“I’m from Bandar [Abbas]. The school that was hit was a non-profit — it was founded by the Navy [IRGC] itself. They’re not that stupid as to strike their own children.”
Thus, five verified residents of Minab and Bandar Abbas — whose connection to the region is confirmed by years of message history — state that the school was located on the grounds of an IRGC base. This provides additional grounds to suggest that the U.S.-Israeli strike on the school resulted from the use of outdated intelligence.