Trump says Iran has Tomahawk missiles when asked about deadly school strike

President Donald Trump said Iran has access to U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missiles when asked whether the United States would accept responsibility for a strike on a girls’ school in Iran that killed at least 165 people.

Speaking to reporters, Trump said the missile used in the strike could have come from Iran or another country, arguing that the Tomahawk is widely available. “Whether it’s Iran or somebody else … a Tomahawk is very generic,” he said, adding that the missile is “sold and used by other countries” and that Iran “also has some Tomahawks.”

The Tomahawk cruise missile is manufactured by U.S. defense contractor Raytheon and has been sold to allied nations including Japan and Australia. However, there is no public evidence to suggest that Iran has obtained or operates the missile.

Newsweek has reached out to the Pentagon via email on Monday night for comment.

Pressed on why he appeared to be the only member of his administration making the statement, Trump said, “Because I just don’t know enough about it,” and added that he would accept the findings of any official investigation.

“Whatever the report shows, I’m willing to live with that report,” he said.

New Footage Raises Questions About School Strike in Iran

New video footage analyzed by an independent investigative group appears to show a U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missile striking a compound in southern Iran, near the site of a deadly blast that hit a girls’ school at the outset of the war in the Middle East, killing more than 165 people.

The footage, first examined by the investigative group Bellingcat and later circulated by Iran’s semiofficial Mehr news agency, was recorded on the day of the strike. It shows a missile slamming into a building and sending a dark plume of smoke into the air near the school, which sits adjacent to a Revolutionary Guard base in the city of Minab, in Iran’s southern Hormozgan Province.

Satellite Analysis Suggests U.S. Involvement

Experts interviewed by the Associated Press (AP) said satellite imagery and video analysis suggest the school was likely struck amid a rapid sequence of munitions hitting the nearby compound. The AP said it independently geolocated the footage, determining it was filmed from a location next to the school, while smoke was already rising from the surrounding area.

Visual markers in the video—including a flat‑roofed structure, power lines and vehicles—were consistent with satellite images of the compound, according to the AP.

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U.S. Official Says Strike Was Likely American

A U.S. official familiar with internal deliberations told the AP that the strike was likely carried out by the United States. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Trevor Ball, a researcher with Bellingcat, identified the weapon seen in the footage as a Tomahawk cruise missile, calling it the first concrete evidence of a munition used in the strike. The missile system is known to be operated by the U.S. military in the current conflict.

U.S. Military Has Used Tomahawks in Current War

U.S. Central Command has acknowledged using Tomahawk missiles during the war and has released imagery showing the USS Spruance, part of the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, launching a Tomahawk missile on February 28. The ship was operating within range of the area where the school was struck.

Bellingcat said the footage “appears to contradict” statements by Trump, who said over the weekend that Iran was responsible for the deadly blast.

Pentagon Assessment and Target Location Add Context

Several additional factors cited by analysts point toward U.S. involvement. One is the initiation of an internal U.S. military assessment of the airstrike. Under Pentagon guidance on civilian harm mitigation, such assessments are typically launched after investigators determine there is a credible possibility of U.S. responsibility.

Another factor is the school’s location, adjacent to a Revolutionary Guard base and near naval barracks—types of targets the U.S. military has acknowledged striking in the province. Israel, which has denied carrying out the strike, has not reported any operations south of Isfahan, roughly 500 miles away.

Legal Experts Warn of Possible International Law Violations

Independent verification of the attack remains limited. No international investigative body has been able to access the site during the ongoing conflict, and no images of bomb fragments from the blast have been independently confirmed.

Janina Dill, international law expert at the University of Oxford, wrote on X that even if the strike resulted from a misidentification—with the attacker believing the school was part of the adjacent military facility—it would still constitute “a very serious violation of international law.”

“Attackers are under an obligation to do everything feasible to verify the status of targeted object,” Dill wrote.

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Trump Administration Takes Hard Line on Rules of War

The Trump administration has taken a different stance on international humanitarian law. Speaking about the U.S. operation on March 2, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the United States was conducting what he described as an unprecedented air campaign.

“America, regardless of what so‑called international institutions say, is unleashing the most lethal and precise air power campaign in history,” Hegseth said. “No stupid rules of engagement. No politically correct wars. We fight to win, and we don’t waste time or lives.”

Update: 3/9/26, 8:36 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.