March 5, 2026

“What bastard builds a school inside a military base?”: Residents of Iran’s Minab speak out about the school strike

On Feb. 28, during an operation by the U.S.-Israeli coalition in Iran, an explosion destroyed a school in the city of Minab (Hormozgan province). As of Mar. 4, this remains the first incident in the course of the military operation involving large-scale civilian casualties. What exactly happened remains unclear, but Iranian officials say the school was destroyed in a missile strike that killed 168 people. According to Al Jazeera journalists, the choice to target such an object for a strike may be explained by outdated intelligence. Parents of the deceased children told NBC that the building housing the school had previously served as an IRGC base. The Insider, together with the project Vox Harbor, which analyzes Telegram posts, examined numerous messages from verified Minab residents. They confirm what NBC’s sources say: the school was indeed located in one of the former IRGC buildings.