New information about the bombing of a school in Iran

0:00Today on State of the World, new information about the bombing of a school in Iran.

0:09You're listening to State of the World from NPR. We bring you the day's most vital international stories, up close where they're happening. It's Wednesday, March 4th. I'm Greg Dixon. In a few minutes, we're going to Turkey's border with Iran, where some Iranians have been fleeing war. First, we have some new details about an incident right at the start of the U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign in Iran. An explosion at a girls' school in southeastern Iran was reported on Saturday. 165 people were killed, including many students, according to Iran's state media. The Pentagon says it is investigating what happened.

0:48NPR correspondent Jeff Brumfield has been looking at new satellite images of the school site. What he found suggests the explosion came from a precision airstrike. He spoke to Scott Detrow. First of all, tell us what these images show. These are really striking images from the company Planet. They show more buildings were hit than it first looked like. NPR consulted with independent experts and found that half a dozen buildings in addition to the school were struck. That includes a clinic that had opened at the site just a few years ago. The experts NPR consulted said these new images suggest the school was likely struck as part of an airstrike, possibly by accident.

1:28Okay, but help me understand this. if the school was struck with a precision munition, how could that have happened by accident? Yeah, let me lay it out for you. This school is in Minab in southeastern Iran, and it's not just anywhere in the city. The site sits less than 100 yards from an Iranian Revolutionary Guard naval base. In fact, satellite images show that until sometime between 2013 and 2016, the school was actually part of that base. Then it was walled off. The clinic that was hit was also part of the base until around 2024, when it too was walled off from the rest of the buildings. I spoke to Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at Middlebury College who specializes in satellite imagery.

2:08He says this could have led to an accident. It is possible that the target hadn't been updated since there were changes on the ground, or the people doing the updating didn't understand what they were looking at. Keep in mind, the Pentagon says it's hit over 2 ,000 targets since the start of this conflict. Minab is not a major Iranian base. It's possible it was cataloged years ago and nobody updated the intelligence. We know the U.S. and Israel are both part of this air war. Do we have any idea which country might have conducted this strike? Yeah. On Monday, Israel Defense Force spokesman Nadav Shoshani denied Israeli involvement.

2:46We started checking immediately. We are not aware at the moment of any IDF operation in that area. And at a press conference, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon was looking into it. All I can say is that we're investigating that. We, of course, never target civilian targets, but we're taking a look and investigating that. The one thing these images do seem to debunk is the idea that this was like a stray Iranian missile or drone. Given there were seven precisely hit targets, that scenario now seems unlikely. Okay, so neither side is immediately taking responsibility. But given what you just said about the images, do they tell us anything more about who could have carried out this strike?

3:26The short answer is no. There's no verified imagery from the site of the incident that shows like bomb debris or something where we could tie it to a particular munition system. However, the location of the city of Minab itself is a pretty big clue, potentially. The city is in southeastern Iran near the Strait of Hormuz. Lewis told me that makes it more likely it was a U.S. target than an Israeli one because the U.S. has aircraft carriers and bases nearby that could be used to stage an attack. The Israelis would have to fly over Iraq and Syria to hit Iran. And so getting all the way to Minab would be tough.

4:03And earlier today, General Dan Cain, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, also said the U.S. was focused on the south of the country. But I should say at this point, there's no way to be sure. And the Pentagon did not respond to our additional request for comment about the strike. NPR's Jeff Brumfield, thanks so much for your reporting. Thank you. The U.S. continues to strike targets in Iran. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said the war is, quote, just getting started. More people in Iran are now fleeing the bombing. NPR's Ruth Sherlock is at the border between Turkey and Iran, and she talked to some of those who are leaving.

4:39She spoke to Juana Summers. Ruth, tell us a bit about the people who are leaving Iran right now. What have you heard from them? Well, the first thing to say is that, you know, the people we saw coming out, a lot of them looked traumatized and exhausted. Two people we spoke to talked about airstrikes landing quite close to them as they made this journey out of the country. And one of those people started crying and shaking with this kind of mix of trauma, but also relief that she'd made it to Turkey. She's a doctor in Iran, and she decided to speak to us, asking us not to use her name, because, you know, speaking with foreign journalists could make her a target of the regime if she goes back.

5:18But she says she's seen many, many civilians dying in these Israeli and American airstrikes. She's been treating wounded coming into the hospital where she works. And I asked her what kind of injuries she was seeing. Everything, any injuries you can imagine. We had lots of trauma, head trauma, foot, leg, body and abdomen. For example, we had lots of kidney laceration, spleen laceration surgeries, very big surgeries, lots of amputation of foots. So she's talking about feet being amputated there. And, you know, the death toll in these last five days from airstrikes in Iran is over 1 ,000 people, according to the Iranian Red Crescent.

6:01And this doctor told us she easily understands how that figure could be true. She says it's not just military targets that are being hit. These are densely populated neighborhoods and there are civilian buildings coming down too, she says. She says a four-story residential building was bombed right close to her home. That's awful. But despite all of this, I understand that you also saw many people who were crossing back into Iran. What did they tell you about why they were returning home? That's right. And, you know, it may seem kind of surprising and counterintuitive, but then you realize it makes total sense in this kind of awful way that shows the horrific, really, positions that civilians are being put in by this war.

6:44You know, people spoke to us saying they're going back to be with their loved ones. We spoke with one man in his mid-30s who also didn't want to be named because of fear of being targeted by the Iranian government. And he's been living abroad for years for work. But in these days, communications are largely down and he hasn't had any news from his family. I know the situation is very dangerous, but I chose to side to my family. Yeah. I say to my family. To be with them. Yes, yes, yes. He'd brought his small dog, Teddy, with him. And after speaking with us, they went towards the border. And they had this long and dangerous journey through the night to make it to where his family lived.

7:29While the war is becoming more intense inside Iran, it's also expanding outside the country, now from the Indian Ocean to Turkey. Tell us the latest. Well, yes, Defense Secretary Hegseth said today that a U.S. submarine had sunk an Iranian warship with around 180 people believed to have been on board in international waters. That's off the coast of Sri Lanka. And NATO missile defenses shot down what was believed to be an Iranian missile as it headed for Turkish airspace. That would have been the first time that Turkey had been targeted in this war so far. NPR's Ruth Sherlock on the border with Turkey and Iran.

8:06Thank you. Thank you very much.

8:17And that's the State of the World from NPR. Thanks for listening.