Untested Weapon Deployed in Iranian School Strike – NYT

(SeaPRwire) –   Reports indicate that American military forces launched a missile capable of scattering small tungsten pellets into the city of Lamerd.

According to a New York Times report published on Sunday, which cites expert analysis of weaponry and video footage, the United States utilized a ballistic missile that had not previously seen combat to strike a sports complex and school in the southern Iranian city of Lamerd.

This strike took place during the initial round of joint US-Israeli operations on February 28. That same day, an American missile strike on a girls’ primary school in the Iranian city of Minab resulted in 175 fatalities, the majority of whom were children. Iranian authorities report that the Lamerd strike claimed the lives of at least 21 individuals.

The NYT noted that the destruction observed at the site aligns with the characteristics of the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), a weapon designed to detonate above its target and release a shower of tungsten pellets. Pentagon records indicate that this missile only finished its prototype testing phase last year.

The NYT reported that, similar to the situation in Minab, the school and sports hall hit in Lamerd were situated immediately adjacent to a facility belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The report further noted that historical satellite imagery confirms the school and hall have been separated from the IRGC compound by walls for over 15 years and are identified as civilian infrastructure on digital mapping platforms like Google Maps.

Because the missile is a new addition to the arsenal, the NYT stated it remains unclear whether the PrSM strikes were deliberate or the result of intelligence errors or technical malfunctions.

Official figures suggest that over 1,000 civilians have perished in US and Israeli strikes within Iran. While President Donald Trump has declined to acknowledge culpability for the Minab school tragedy, the Pentagon has initiated a probe into the matter.