đź”´ BREAKING: The regime in Iran has now confessed that the IRGC mistakenly bombed an Iranian school yesterday, killing many children. To all the legacy media and pro regime influencers who peddled your fake news: RETRACT and DELETE. https://t.co/MNBdIcmvkG
Based on my investigation, this claim is false.
Verification Analysis:
Iran has NOT confessed responsibility for the school bombing12. The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, explicitly blamed the U.S. and Israel for the February 28, 2026 strike on a girls' school in Minab, Hormozgan Province, calling it "an egregious, unwarranted act of aggression" and "a blatant crime"12.
The "confession" originated from a non-official source32. Social media posts claiming Iran confessed cited a Telegram channel called "Radio Gilan," which is a pro-monarchy/opposition channel, NOT an official Iranian government or state media outlet23. The claim that "the IRGC announced this was an inadvertent mistake" was based on this unverified Telegram post2.
The claim has been fact-checked and rated FALSE12. PolitiFact rated claims that the Iranian regime confessed to IRGC bombing the school as "False"2. WRAL News also investigated and confirmed there was no evidence Iran's government had taken responsibility for the strike1.
Investigative journalism confirms U.S./Israeli responsibility43. Multiple sources, including a Guardian investigation, have verified that American forces struck the school during "Operation Epic Fury" on February 28, 2026, killing approximately 175-180 people, mostly girls ages 7-124. An open-source investigation by journalist Nilo Tabrizy confirmed the claim that Iran took responsibility was debunked3.
The claim appears to be misinformation that spread widely on social media (one X post garnered 5.6 million views) but has no basis in verified reporting from Iranian officials12.
Overall validity: 0%
Based on my research, here is my fact-check analysis of this claim:
Reasoning:
Overall validity: 0%
Based on my research, this claim is false. The Iranian regime has not confessed that the IRGC bombed an Iranian school. This claim appears to be part of a misinformation campaign.
Reasoning:
The February 28, 2026 strike on Shajareh Tayyibeh girls' elementary school in Minab, Hormozgan Province did result in over 100 deaths including many children, but there is no evidence Iran admitted responsibility. The disinformation appears designed to deflect blame from the U.S.-Israeli military campaign that began that day1423.
Overall validity: 0%
The claim is ACCURATE.
This claim refers to the Shajarah Tayyebeh girls' primary school in Minab, southern Iran, which was struck by American Tomahawk cruise missiles on the morning of February 28, 2026—the first day of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
Reasoning:
Casualty figures confirm significant child deaths: Iranian authorities reported that at least 110 school children (66 boys and 54 girls) were among 168 total deaths at the school, along with 26 teachers and four parents. A later announcement included images of 119 children killed12. International monitoring organizations estimate between 165-180 people died, most of them girls aged seven to twelve3.
The strike was acknowledged by U.S. forces: The Pentagon has acknowledged that American forces were "likely responsible" for the strike, attributing it to a "targeting error rooted in stale intelligence data"3. The Washington Post reported that the school building was on a U.S. target list and may have been mistaken for a military site because Defense Intelligence Agency databases still classified it as a military facility from when it was part of an adjacent IRGC naval compound, despite having been converted to a school between 2013-20162.
UNICEF verification: UNICEF reported that more than 1,100 children were injured or killed across the conflict, with 200 reportedly killed in Iran2.
This incident represents the single deadliest child casualty event: The Minab school strike accounts for roughly 83% of all children killed in Iran since the war began, making it the most significant incident of child deaths in the conflict3.
International condemnation: UNESCO called for protection of schools, stating "The killing of pupils in a place dedicated to learning constitutes a grave violation of the protection afforded to schools under international humanitarian law"1. Eight UN experts called for independent investigation of the attack2.
Minor caveats: The exact number of child casualties varies between sources (110 per Iranian authorities vs. estimates of 165-180 total dead, mostly children). Some reports refer to the school as a girls' primary school, while casualty reports mention both boys and girls. Amnesty International noted they could not independently corroborate the exact number of deaths due to internet blackouts and lack of access2.
Overall validity: 95%
Based on my research, I can analyze this claim about legacy media and the Iranian school bombing.
Analysis of the Claim:
Overall validity: 5%
Based on my research, here is my fact-check analysis:
Verification Analysis:
The bombing was real: The Shajareh Tayyebah (also spelled Shajarah Tayyebeh or Minab) girls' elementary school in Minab, Iran was hit on February 28, 2026, during early US-Israeli military operations, killing at least 153-175 people, most of them children123. A New York Times investigation verified the school was hit by a precision strike, and a preliminary US military investigation concluded American forces were most likely responsible2.
Iranian state media and pro-regime accounts spread fake content about the school bombing: NewsGuard documented that "Iranian state media and pro-regime social media accounts" circulated disinformation about the war, including "false claims about attacks during the conflict, including narratives about a deadly strike on a school in Minab"4. The Iranian embassy in Austria shared an AI-generated image of a child's pink backpack covered in blood, which Google's SynthID tool confirmed was fabricated52.
Multiple fake narratives emerged: False claims included that Iran's Revolutionary Guard took responsibility for the attack (no official source confirmed this), that the school wasn't in Iran (it was in Pakistan), and that the school bombing was "friendly fire" by Iran itself - all debunked by fact-checkers563.
AI-generated misinformation was weaponized on both sides: The Iranian regime illustrated real children's deaths with fabricated images2, while pro-Iran accounts also spread AI-generated images claiming to show military equipment in schools and other false war narratives23.
Pro-regime influencers documented: Research shows coordinated pro-Iranian influence operations using inauthentic social media accounts, including campaigns supporting regime narratives and targeting audiences across the Arab and Muslim world7. Iranian state media and affiliated channels have been documented spreading at least 26 specific false claims about the war across 78 websites8.
The claim accurately reflects documented evidence that pro-regime influencers and Iranian state-affiliated accounts spread disinformation and fake content about the school bombing, though it should be noted that disinformation about the incident came from multiple sides.
Overall validity: 85%