Key Takeaways:
- Iran’s state broadcaster, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), claimed that the U.S. had targeted the Shajareh Tayyebeh school. Western outlets soon picked up the story without attributing it to regime-backed media.
- The media omitted that the Iranian regime exploited the civilian infrastructure of the school as it was located in an IRGC complex and, therefore, was not the target of the strike.
- The story spread rapidly without independent verification, illustrating how unconfirmed claims can go viral and shape international perception before facts are fully examined.
On Saturday, February 28, Israel and the U.S. launched a joint military operation against the Iranian regime, targeting senior leadership, including Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei, and military commanders. The operation has also seen a significant targeting of military infrastructure, including air defense systems, missile launchers, and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) command centers.
The Iranian regime, like its terrorist proxies Hamas and Hezbollah, has embedded its infrastructure within civilian locations. As protests broke out at the beginning of 2026, the movement of weapons and military equipment into protected civilian locations, such as schools and hospitals, was widely observed. This prompted Iranian civilians to take protective measures and warn one another of the dual use of protected spaces.
Geolocation/Correction/Additional Info:
1. Confirmed geolocation: The Imam Ali school in Arak, Iran (34.088253, 49.687137) @GeoConfirmed .
2. The photo is from as early as January 8th, 2026 – Per earliest reports it just depicts them as “Security forces”.
3. This school appears… https://t.co/6y7INfX8Fx pic.twitter.com/JWAZJ34bch— Tal Hagin (@talhagin) January 27, 2026
When the IDF targeted an IRGC compound in Minab, southern Iran, Iran’s state broadcaster, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), immediately claimed that the U.S. had purposefully targeted the Shajareh Tayyebeh school full of young girls. Al Jazeera soon published the story, blaming Israel for the deaths of children.
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The Western media, without questioning the credibility of the source, immediately reported on the strike and followed Al Jazeera’s lead by holding Israel responsible. In doing so, the media further amplified and legitimized claims from the same regime that has spent the past two months executing its own civilians in the streets protesting for freedom.
The same outlets that included a caveat about their inability to independently verify the number of protesters killed by the regime were the same ones that published and continuously updated alleged casualty figures without any verification other than a regime source. This is not to say that innocent civilians may not have died in the strike, but they were certainly not the target of Israel or the U.S. Moreover, a civilian building was purposefully exploited by the Iranian regime, putting civilians in immediate danger.
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“Iran says,” and the media repeats. Without verification.An evil regime that only weeks ago was killing its own people and covering it up is now trusted not to create false narratives against Israel?
Two and a half years of publishing Hamas propaganda, and the media still… https://t.co/sIVUMfGBp0
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) February 28, 2026
Analysis of the Strike
The school, reportedly intended to be for the children of military personnel, was built directly next to an IRGC naval base, according to anti-regime media. Independent geolocation analysts further indicated that the Shajareh Tayyebeh school was located in the same premises as the Sayyid al-Shohada barracks of the IRGC Navy’s Asef Brigade. While it remains unclear whether many civilians were present in the area at the time of the strike, witnesses have reported that the school was not targeted but rather the adjacent IRGC buildings, where missiles were reportedly being stored.
This information was, of course, omitted from IRIB’s reporting of the strike. As a result, when Western outlets covered the story, the school’s proximity to – and apparent integration with – an IRGC military complex was missing from the coverage.
And now more proof: reviewing maps and satellite images shows that the girls’ school “Shajareh Tayebeh of the IRGC Navy Minab” is located adjacent to and within the compound of several buildings belonging to the IRGC; including the “Martyr Absalan Clinic” belonging to the Medical… https://t.co/Np1MFP0hNL pic.twitter.com/hmMUxQJ1ho
— Emily Schrader – אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) February 28, 2026
The Iranian Embassy in Austria continued with the disinformation campaign on behalf of the regime, sharing a now-viral image on X of a backpack that reportedly belongs to one of the schoolgirls killed in the strike. However, research analysts have found the photo to be AI-generated, as a Google Gemini watermark was detected hidden in the image.
The photo of the pink backpack being used here very likely isn’t real – but AI-generated.
This is both based on the glossy features of the image, which are currently common amongst AI models – As well as the detection of a Google Gemini watermark imbedded in the image: https://t.co/jGANvierX8 pic.twitter.com/8eqFAX15Mc
— Tal Hagin (@talhagin) March 1, 2026
The disinformation does not stop at pro-regime sources. A widely-circulated photograph online purported to show a misfired IRGC missile that had fallen inside Iranian territory and struck the school, shifting the blame onto the Iranian regime. However, independent analysts found that the school was located more than 1,000 kilometers from where the photo was taken. They also show that the structure in the photograph faced a direction inconsistent with the alleged missile trajectory, making it unlikely that the image depicted the Shajareh Tayyebeh school.
An image from Zanjan falsely used to claim that a misfired IRGC ballistic missile was what hit the Minab girls school.
Location [POV]: 36.684951, 48.488164
MFMQ+X7M Zanjan, Zanjan Province, Iran@GeoConfirmed @FaytuksNetworkGeolocated with @talhagin https://t.co/bI9bsjiYyQ pic.twitter.com/l3zMnUMabh
— Stinky (@Stinky915846091) February 28, 2026
The Iranian regime has taken a page out of Hamas’ notebook. For the past two and a half years, Hamas has made exaggerated and false claims, which the media repeatedly amplified before doing their own due diligence. Corrections, when they came, rarely traveled as far as the original headlines. That same cycle of rapid accusation, viral spread, and delayed scrutiny is now playing out in Iran.
The nature of war between Israel and the Iranian regime means that vast amounts of information are released in real time, often before facts can be fully verified. When reporting omits key context or relies heavily on regime-affiliated sources, narratives can solidify before the truth has a chance to catch up, leaving the public with a distorted understanding of events.
In a time of instantaneous reporting and with clear evidence that narratives are being deliberately shaped for strategic purposes, rigorous scrutiny by the media is essential to ensure the truth prevails.
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