Iran Names US Navy Officers Behind Deadly Minab School Strike

Iran has publicly identified two US Navy officers it holds responsible for a missile strike on a girls' school in Minab that killed approximately 175 people, intensifying its accusations of war crimes against Washington. On Sunday, the Iranian embassies in India, South Africa, and Nigeria released images of the officers, identifying them as Commander Leigh R. Tate and Executive Officer Jeffrey E. York of the USS Spruance.

In a series of posts on X, the Iranian Embassy in India labeled the duo "criminals," alleging they authorized the launch of Tomahawk missiles on three separate occasions, leading to the deaths of 168 innocent children at the Shajareh Tayyebeh Girls' School on February 28. The posts included emotional appeals, questioning whether the officers had children of their own and urging the international community to "remember these two."

Calculated Assault vs. Intelligence Error

Speaking during an urgent debate in Geneva, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the strike as a "calculated, phased assault" carried out on the very first day of the conflict. He claimed the attack on the school was deliberate. However, a US military investigation, reported by The New York Times, has pointed toward a potential catastrophic error. Preliminary findings suggest the strike may have resulted from outdated intelligence data, where the missile—intended for a neighboring military facility—struck the school due to incorrect mapping coordinates.

Escalating Regional Conflict

While US military authorities maintain that the investigation is ongoing and emphasize that they do not target civilian infrastructure, President Donald Trump has alleged that Iranian munitions could have been responsible for the strike. In response, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei shared video footage of the attack, explicitly accusing the United States of a war crime.

The February 28 strike occurred as US and Israeli forces conducted operations against Iran, sparking a wider regional conflict. Since then, the crisis has deepened across the Middle East, with Iran launching retaliatory strikes against Israel and targets across various Gulf states.