Speaking at a press conference on the 10th day of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, President Donald Trump evaded questions about whether the United States was at fault for a deadly Feb. 28 attack on an Iranian girls’ school.
Reporters pressed Trump twice about the strike, which video evidence shows was carried out by a Tomahawk cruise missilean American-made weapon that can be launched from ships, submarines or ground launchers at targets 1,000 miles away.
Iranian media reported the air assault killed 175 people at the school, many of them children.
Trump twice declined to say that the U.S. had hit the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school, which was located near an Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps facility. He instead raised the possibility that a Tomahawk could have been fired by another country, including Iran. Here’s the full exchange:
Reporter: “There’s footage that shows that an American missile strike and a Tomahawk missile likely destroyed that Iranian girls’ school. So … will the U.S. accept any responsibility for that strike?”
Trump: “Well, I haven’t seen it, and I will say that the Tomahawk, which is one of the most powerful weapons around is … sold and used by other countries. You know that. And whether it’s Iran, (which) also has some Tomahawks. They wish they had more. But whether it’s Iran or somebody else, the fact that a Tomahawk — a Tomahawk is very generic. It’s sold to other countries. But that’s being investigated right now.”
The exchange prompted a follow-up question.
Reporter: “Mr. President, you just suggested that Iran somehow got its hands on a Tomahawk and bombed its own elementary school on the first day of the war. But you’re the only person in your government saying this. Even your Defense secretary wouldn’t say that when he was asked standing over your shoulder on your plane on Saturday. Why are you the only person saying this?”
Trump: “Because I just don’t know enough about it. I think it’s something that I was told is under investigation, but Tomahawks are used by others, as you know. Numerous other nations have Tomahawks — they buy them from us. But … whatever the report shows, I’m willing to live with that report.”
Although a few countries other than the U.S. have Tomahawks, none of them is engaged in fighting Iran. Tomahawk cruise missiles are manufactured by Raytheona U.S. company, for use by the U.S. military and international partners.
“The only other countries using Tomahawks are Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia and the Netherlands,” said Mark F. Cancian, a senior adviser for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a national security-focused think tank. “Iran has none, though it has lots of missiles of different kinds.”
Jeffrey Lewis, the director of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies’ East Asia nonproliferation program, agreed.
“Tehran does not have Tomahawks, and Iranian cruise missiles are visually distinct,” Lewis said.
N.R. Jenzen-Jones, director of the intelligence firm Armament Research Services, similarly told CNN that Iran does not have Tomahawk missiles like those seen in video of the strike.
Israel also isn’t known to have Tomahawks.
The White House did not respond to inquiries for this article.
In a March 10 floor speech, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized Trump’s assertion. “Iran doesn’t have Tomahawk missiles, Donald Trump,” Schumer said. “The claim is beyond asinine.”
Republican lawmakers expressed concern as well. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said the U.S. “ought to get to the bottom of it for sure. And admit if we know whose fault it is and do everything we can to eliminate those mistakes going forward.”
Officially, the incident remains under Pentagon investigation, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said when asked on Air Force One about the strike March 7.
Analysts from the investigative group Bellingcat and The New York Times separately viewed footage and concluded that the weapon was a Tomahawk, which is about 20 feet long and has a wingspan of eight and a half feet.
Video released by the U.S. Central Command showed several Tomahawks being launched from Navy ships on Feb. 28, the day the school and nearby targets were hit.
Our ruling
Asked about evidence showing a Tomahawk missile hit an Iranian elementary school, Trump said Iran “also has some Tomahawks.”
Experts told PolitiFact that the only countries that have Tomahawks besides the U.S. are Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia and the Netherlands. Neither Iran nor Israel nor any combatant at that stage of the war is known to have Tomahawks, either, and the White House did not provide evidence to back up Trump’s statement.
We rate this claim False.
