Trump Declares Iran Responsible for Girls’ School Strike as Tehran Regime Plays Deadly Propaganda Game

Over 180 people are dead at an Iranian girls’ elementary school—and President Trump made clear Saturday that the Islamic Republic’s own reckless military incompetence is to blame.

“We think it was done by Iran because they’re very inaccurate with their munitions,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to the Shield of Americas summit in Florida. “They have no accuracy, whatsoever. It was done by Iran.”

The President’s unflinching assessment cuts through the fog of Tehran’s propaganda machine, which has worked overtime to exploit the tragedy at Shajarah Tayyebeh Girls’ School in southern Iran.

Iran’s Military Puts Its Own People at Risk

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, standing alongside the President, reinforced the administration’s position with surgical precision.

“We’re still investigating. But the only side that targets civilians is Iran.”

That statement captures a fundamental truth about the Iranian regime’s decades-long pattern of using human shields and embedding military operations among civilian populations.

The facts bear this out. The elementary school in question was directly attached to a military compound controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—Iran’s terrorist army. Satellite imagery confirms the facility previously served as an IRGC headquarters.

The Propaganda War Tehran Always Plays

Iranian state media has flooded the zone with unverified claims that 168 children and 14 teachers died in the February 28 strike during joint US-Israeli operations against Iran’s nuclear weapons program and terrorist infrastructure.

These numbers cannot be independently confirmed because Iran’s theocratic dictatorship has imposed an internet blackout across the country—a tell-tale sign that Tehran has something to hide.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt demolished the Iranian narrative with characteristic directness earlier this week.

“I would just tell you strongly, the United States of America does not target civilians, unlike the rogue Iranian regime,” Leavitt declared. “And unfortunately, many people in this room have fallen for that propaganda.”

Why Iran Hides Military Assets Among Children

The location tells you everything you need to know about Iran’s barbaric tactics. The school sits in Minab, strategically positioned near the Strait of Hormuz—the critical chokepoint through which one-fifth of the world’s seaborne oil flows annually.

Iran deliberately places military command centers, weapons depots, and terrorist operations in schools, hospitals, and residential neighborhoods. This isn’t accidental. It’s calculated.

When precision strikes target legitimate military objectives, the mullahs immediately weaponize any civilian casualties for international sympathy. It’s a playbook they’ve perfected over four decades.

Satellite imagery from December showed what appeared to be a school courtyard with people praying—but that doesn’t change the military nature of the compound or Iran’s responsibility for endangering those civilians.

The Investigation Continues, But Facts Matter

The Department of War continues investigating the specific origin of the strike. Israeli officials have indicated they were not conducting operations in that particular area at that time.

What remains beyond dispute is Iran’s fundamental culpability. Whether through their own errant munitions—a chronic problem given their outdated, poorly maintained arsenal—or through their unconscionable practice of militarizing civilian infrastructure, Tehran bears responsibility for this tragedy.

The Iranian regime chose to place an IRGC military facility adjacent to a girls’ school. The Iranian regime chose to prosecute this conflict while hiding behind children. The Iranian regime chose to shut down internet access to prevent the truth from emerging.

America Doesn’t Fall for Terror State Propaganda

This administration refuses to play the weak, apologetic game that emboldened Iran for years. We don’t accept Tehran’s manufactured narratives at face value. We investigate, we verify, and we hold the actual perpetrators accountable.

The strike occurred during lawful military operations against a regime that has killed thousands of Americans, armed terrorist proxies across the Middle East, pursued nuclear weapons in defiance of international law, and brutalized its own population.

Iran’s Supreme Leader and his IRGC enforcers put those children in danger the moment they decided to use that school as cover for military operations. That’s the story. That’s the truth.

And no amount of state-sponsored propaganda changes those facts.

The American people deserve a president who sees through the manipulation, states the facts clearly, and doesn’t apologize for protecting American interests and allies. That’s exactly what they have.