"Trump, Look Them In The Eyes": Tehran Times Frontpage's Grim Reminder

The front page of Iran's state-backed English-language newspaper, the Tehran Times, is dominated by portraits of every child reported killed in a missile strike on an elementary school in the southern town of Minab. 

Above the images runs the headline "Trump, Look Them In The Eyes". 

In an accompanying editorial, the paper states: "US President Donald Trump's pronouncements on the ongoing military invasion of Iran have been marred by a pattern of demonstrably false claims, deflection of responsibility for atrocities, and a defiant rejection of diplomatic solutions."

Trump on Saturday blamed Iran itself for the deadly strike on the elementary school in Minab. 

"We think it was done by Iran. Because they are very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions. They have no accuracy whatsoever," he told reporters. 

The remarks came after a New York Times investigation concluded that the US military was most likely responsible. Neither Israel nor the United States has claimed responsibility for the attack. Iranian officials say it killed at least 150 people. The news agency AFP has been unable to reach the location to verify the death count or the circumstances independently.

The strike occurred on February 28 on a military compound in Minab. A school inside or adjacent to the compound was hit, killing more than 165 people, most of them children. Conflict researcher Trevor Ball of the Dutch fact-checking organisation Bellingcat said on Sunday night that the incident had been traced to a Tomahawk cruise missile. In a detailed thread on X,  Ball shared previously unseen footage originally broadcast by Iran's Mehr News agency. 

The video shows a missile striking a building within the compound, which is linked to the elite Revolutionary Guard Corps. 

New video footage shows a US Tomahawk missile hitting an IRGC facility in Minab, Iran, on Feb 28, showing for the first time that the US struck the area. The footage also shows smoke already rising from the vicinity of the girls' school, where 175 people were reportedly killed. pic.twitter.com/4jBXrNcRJO

— Trevor Ball (@Easybakeovensz) March 8, 2026

Ball said the footage demonstrated for the first time that the United States had struck the area.

He noted that the United States is the only participant in the conflict known to possess Tomahawk missiles; Israel is not known to have them. The Mehr News video also included side-by-side comparisons of the missile that hit the compound and a closer view of a Tomahawk. 

Images from the X posts by user @easybakeovensz showed these comparative shots of Tomahawk missiles. Ball added that the video had been geolocated, confirming the precise site, and that it directly contradicted President Trump's claim that Israel was responsible for the incident.