New video links timing of school strike to U.S. attack on ne

WASHINGTON, March 8 (Xinhua) -- A newly emerged video appears to show a U.S. airstrike targeting a building at an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval base in Minab, Iran, adjacent to an elementary school where Iranian state media says more than 160 pupils were killed on Feb. 28, CNN reported on Sunday.

The footage, posted by the semi-official Iranian news agency Mehr News, is the first to show missiles striking the area and adds to a growing body of evidence that appears to contradict recent claims by U.S. President Donald Trump casting blame on Iran, said the CNN report.

In the footage, filmed from a nearby construction site, a munition consistent with a U.S. Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) can be seen before striking a location inside the IRGC base, said the report, noting that Israel does not operate the Tomahawk missile.

Sam Lair, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, told CNN the munition in the video matches the characteristics of a Tomahawk missile.

"First, it fits the visual characteristics of a TLAM. The cruciform shape with centrally mounted wings and a tailkit at the back. Second, the video was taken about 250 meters from the likely impact point. That means the munition has to be large. This rules out other munitions in the U.S. stockpile with similar visual characteristics like the GBU-69B," Lair was quoted as saying.

"The geolocated video shows a cruise missile hitting one of the centrally located buildings at the base," said Lair, adding that while the video does not show the moment of impact on the school, it "was likely part of the same strike and would have been accompanied by other, similar cruise missiles."

Other weapons experts CNN has consulted agreed with the assessment, said the media outlet.

Trump on Saturday blamed Iran for the Minab school strike, despite analyses from CNN and multiple other media outlets.

Iran has blamed the United States for the Minab school strike, according to Iranian state media.

At least 1,332 Iranian civilians, including women and children, have been killed and thousands more injured since U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran were launched on Feb. 28, Iran's UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said Friday.