03/06/2026March 6, 2026IRGC says it targeted US base in UAE in response to strike on girls’ school
People and rescue forces work following a reported strike on a school in Minab, IranImage: Abbas Zakeri/Mehr News/WANA/REUTERS
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has said its forces targeted an American base in the United Arab Emirates, which the IRGC claims was used as a launchpad to strike a primary school in southern Iran.
Iran says at least 175 people, including many schoolchildren, were killed when a girls’ elementary school in Minab was hit in an air strike on Saturday.
“Al-Dhafra air base, belonging to American terrorists in the region, was targeted using drones and precision missiles,” the IRGC said in a statement on Iranian state television.Â
It was initially unclear if the base was actually hit by strikes.Â
Foreign media have been unable to verify Tehran’s claims about the strike on the girls’ school, which was reportedly close to sites that are controlled by the IRGC.
Israel has said it was “not aware” of the reported strike. The White House has pushed back against allegations that the US is responsible, while the Pentagon has said that it is investigating the matter.
According to reports in the US, however, American military investigators believe that US forces were likely behind the strike.
If a US role were to be confirmed, the strike would rank among the worst cases of civilian casualties in decades of US conflicts in the Middle East.
UN rights chief Volker Turk on Friday condemned “this absolutely tragic incident,” and said he hoped investigations would be “prompt, and that they will be done in full transparency.”
“We also expect accountability to be served, because obviously mistakes were clearly made,” he told reporters in Geneva.