Joshua Scheer
Waking up to this and the other tweets and images, they should be front and center. Whether war is carried out through coercive efforts and brutal sanctions, such as those imposed on Venezuela and Cuba, or through an active bombing campaign, children are often the ones who pay the price.
This is not new.
But I begin with this tweet and image because they show the reality while governments continue to claim that “the only side that targets civilians is Iran.” Meanwhile, the killing of children continues.
“Children and minors make up around 30% of those killed so far in U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, according to Iran’s Ministry of Health in a statement released Sunday. Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani also stated on Friday, “So far 3,090 residential units, 528 commercial units, and 13 medical facilities (nine of which belonged to the Red Crescent) have been hit, and we have witnessed human casualties in healthcare centers.” Israeli airstrikes on Tehran’s oil depots and petroleum logistics infrastructure over the weekend filled the city of 10 million people with toxic smoke, prompting authorities to warn Sunday of dangerous acid rain. Residents have reported shortness of breath and burning in the eyes and throat, while health officials caution exposure to the chemical gasses and fine particulates can worsen lung and heart conditions and increase the risk of cancer.”
“The last photo of Mikaeil Mirdoraghi, a third-grader killed in the Feb. 28 U.S.-Israeli strike on a primary school in Minab, Iran. He is waving goodbye to his mother.” Hours later, the school was rubble.”
War is always wrapped in the language of precision.
“Targeted strike.” “Surgical operation.” “Strategic objective.”
These are the phrases deployed by officials in Washington and Tel Aviv when missiles fall from the sky. They are meant to reassure the public that modern warfare is controlled, careful, and restrained — that civilians are tragic exceptions rather than predictable casualties.
But mistakes do not usually happen twice.
In the southern Iranian city of Minab, an elementary school was struck not once but two times by U.S. missiles roughly forty minutes apart, according to reporting confirmed by Reuters. One strike might be explained away as an error. A second strike — long after the first explosion and the arrival of rescuers — turns the word “mistake” into something else entirely. It turns it into a massacre.
Viewer discretion is advised, but for some people the video evidence is necessary to expose the false claims — here is the footage related to the attack on the elementary school in Minab.
Now we have the The New York Times reporting and showing another video of a base being struck with what are again described as precision bombs, once more exposing the claims from Donald Trump about schools and civilian targets.
Standing beside Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters the Pentagon was investigating the incident, adding that “the only side that targets civilians is Iran.”
But that claim becomes harder to sustain every time new evidence emerges.
We have heard this story before. The mythology of the “precision bomb” has been used for decades to reassure the public that modern war is careful and controlled. Yet the historical record tells a different story. After the Gulf War, the U.S. Government Accountability Office reported that many of the so-called smart bombs touted during the conflict failed to perform as advertised.
Three decades later, the same language is being used again.
But when schools are reduced to rubble and civilians are pulled from the debris, the idea that these weapons represent surgical precision begins to look less like reality and more like public relations.
A School Reduced to Rubble
The Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school was destroyed during a broader attack on a nearby naval installation operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Satellite imagery, verified video, and social media footage assembled by The New York Times show the school was hit by a precision strike occurring at the same time as U.S. Tomahawk missile attacks on the base.
When the dust settled, 168 children and 14 teachers were dead, according to Iranian officials.
This is not collateral damage. This is a schoolyard turned into a mass grave.
Yet the narrative from Washington told a different story. Donald Trump claimed Iran itself was responsible for the blast that killed 175 people — most of them children. The evidence contradicts that claim. The damage pattern, timing of the strikes, and video analysis point toward a U.S. missile hitting the school during the broader assault.
And the dead tell the rest of the story.
Children in the Crosshairs
The Minab school bombing is not an isolated tragedy. It is part of a broader pattern emerging in the expanding U.S.–Israeli war against Iran.
According to Iran’s Ministry of Health, children and minors now make up around 30% of those killed so far in the bombing campaign. Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said 206 women and children have died since February 28, including 193 children under 18. The youngest victim was a four‑month‑old girl.
These are not statistics. They are children with names, families, and futures that no longer exist.
A War on Civilian Life
Across Iran, the civilian landscape is being systematically reshaped by the bombing campaign.
Iranian officials report that 3,090 residential units, 528 commercial properties, and 13 medical facilities have been damaged or destroyed. Nine of those medical centers belonged to the Iranian Red Crescent — humanitarian infrastructure theoretically protected under international law.
Meanwhile in Tehran, Israeli airstrikes on oil depots and petroleum logistics infrastructure blanketed the capital in thick, toxic smoke. Authorities warned residents to prepare for acid rain. People reported burning eyes, irritated throats, and difficulty breathing. Health officials warned that inhaling the chemical particulates could worsen heart and lung conditions and increase long‑term cancer risk.
For many civilians, survival no longer means escaping the bombs. It means breathing the air.
The Myth of Precision
Modern warfare sells itself on the myth of accuracy — smart bombs, surgical strikes, advanced targeting systems. Politicians repeat these phrases with ritual confidence.
But when a missile destroys a school filled with children, and another missile hits the same location forty minutes later, the idea of precision begins to look less like technology and more like propaganda.
Because precision cuts both ways.
In military jargon, a follow‑up strike on the same location is sometimes called a “double tap.” Critics say it is designed to hit emergency responders or anyone trying to help the wounded.
Children were buried under classroom walls. Teachers died trying to shield them. Parents clawed through rubble where a school once stood.
The Battle Over Truth
Every war produces two fronts.
One is fought with missiles and drones. The other is fought with narratives.
Governments argue over responsibility, spin casualty figures, and frame events in ways that make their actions appear justified. Words like “terrorist infrastructure” and “military necessity” float across press briefings.
But those words collapse under the weight of a destroyed elementary school — especially one hit twice.
Iran’s government says it did not start this war but vows it will defend the country and bring the conflict to an end. Meanwhile, the bombs keep falling.
And somewhere in Minab, a photograph of a boy named Mikaeil still exists — a third‑grader waving goodbye to his mother on what should have been an ordinary morning.
In the language of war briefings, he will likely be counted as collateral damage.
In reality, he was a child walking into a classroom that had already been marked for destruction.