Minab MemorialShajareh Tayyebeh School

The record

What Happened

Shajareh Tayyebeh was a small non-profit primary school at the end of Alley 9 on Resalat Boulevard in Minab, Hormozgan province. It stood beside an IRGC naval compound, separated from it by a wall painted with murals. There was no sign the school building was ever used for anything military.

  1. Around 10:45 a.m., 28 February 2026

    US and Israeli strikes begin across Iran. Saturday is a working day in Iran, so Shajareh Tayyebeh School is full — roughly 300 children are inside. Teachers start phoning parents to come and collect them.

  2. Minutes later

    A missile hits the school. Witnesses and satellite analysis indicate it was struck on three separate occasions — a double- or multi-strike pattern. The upper floor collapses onto the classrooms below.

  3. The same afternoon

    Rescuers, firefighters and neighbours dig through the rubble by hand. More than 12,300 relatives come to the site searching for their children; Minab's morgue and cemetery were never built for this.

  4. 2–3 March 2026

    The governor's office publishes the first list of names. A mass funeral is held and a section of the Golestan-e Khalij-e Fars cemetery is set aside for the school's dead.

  5. 6 March 2026

    Reuters reports that US military investigators believe American forces were likely responsible, and that outdated targeting data may explain it.

  6. 12 March 2026

    A Reuters investigation shows the school had a years-long public online presence — photographs of the children, a website, a business listing — and painted playground markings visible from satellites since 2018. UNESCO calls the attack a grave violation of humanitarian law.

  7. 9 April 2026

    On the fortieth day of mourning the Minab prosecutor gives the final count: 156 dead — 120 children, 26 women teachers, seven parents, a bus driver, a pharmacy technician, and a six-month-old unborn child.

  8. Autumn 2026

    The ruins have become a place of pilgrimage, lined with photographs of the children. Hormozgan's governor says the building will be preserved as a memorial. Washington has still not accepted responsibility or published the Pentagon's findings.

Who investigated

Independent investigations using satellite imagery, munition fragments, flight and launch data and witness testimony concluded that US forces struck the school with Tomahawk cruise missiles. Those reaching that conclusion include the United Nations, Amnesty International, Forensic Architecture, Bellingcat, Reuters, the Associated Press, the New York Times and Sky News.

Sources