US used untested weapon in Iranian school strike – NYT
The US struck an Iranian school with a missile untested in combat, the NYT reports. The weapon disperses tungsten pellets and killed civilians.
American forces used a missile previously untested in combat to strike a school and sports hall in the Iranian city of Lamerd, according to a New York Times report published on Sunday. The newspaper based its analysis on footage and input from weapons experts. The attack occurred during the first wave of joint US and Israeli strikes on February 28, the same day an American missile destroyed a girls' elementary school in Minab, killing 175 people, most of them children.
The identified missile is the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), which explodes above its target and disperses small tungsten pellets. According to the Pentagon, this weapon completed its prototype phase only last year. Iranian officials reported at least 21 people were killed in the Lamerd strike. The NYT noted the damage is consistent with the use of the PrSM.
Both the school and sports hall in Lamerd and the school in Minab were located next to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) facilities. However, the newspaper stated that archival satellite imagery shows these civilian buildings have been walled off from the military complex for at least 15 years and are listed as civilian facilities on online mapping services like Google Maps.
Because the missile is new, the NYT says it is more difficult to assess whether the PrSM strikes were intentional or stemmed from a design flaw or faulty intelligence. Official data indicates more than 1,000 civilians have been killed by US and Israeli strikes in Iran. While President Donald Trump has refused to admit responsibility for the attack on the school in Minab, the Pentagon has opened an investigation into the incident.
