Trump quizzed on Iran faculty strike that killed 165 – ‘Willing to reside with final result’
Donald Trump admitted he didn’t ‘know enough’ about the strike on a girls school in Iran after claiming it may not have been an American Tomahawk that hit the building
Donald Trump claims Iran also has Tomahawks as it appears one of the cruise missiles hit a girls school.
He also said he would “live with” the outcome of an investigation into the tragedy.
New footage shows what experts say is likely a US Tomahawk missile hitting a compound in southern Iran, just metres from the school where more than 165 people died at the start of the war raging in the Middle East.
And as the mounting evidence suggests the US military was responsible for the February 28 strike on the school adjacent to a Revolutionary Guard base in Minab, Iran, in the southern Hormozgan Province, Trump has now claimed Iran also had Tomahawks.
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Taking questions from reporters in Florida about whether the US would take responsibility for the tragedy, Trump first of all said he “hadn’t seen it”.
He then claimed that Iran and other countries have Tomahawk missiles. “The Tomahawk is one of the most powerful weapons around, it is sold and used by other countries, you know that, whether it is Iran which also has some Tomahawks and wishes it has more,” said Trump.
“So whether it is Iran or somebody else, the fact it is a Tomahawk – a Tomahawk is very generic, it is sold to other countries, but that is being investigated right now.”
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Then when pressed on why he appears to have been the only person in his administration to say Iran also has Tomahawks, he replied: “I just don’t know enough about it, it is something that I was told it is under investigation but Tomahawks are used by others.”
And he added: “Whatever the report shows I am ready to live with that report.”
The Tomahawk is made by the US defence contractor Raytheon and has been sold to allies, but there is no public evidence of it being operated by Iran.
A US official familiar with internal deliberations on the matter told AP that the strike was likely American. The new footage, first analyzed by the investigative group Bellingcat, was taken the day the school was struck and circulated Sunday by Iran’s semiofficial Mehr news agency. It shows a missile hitting a building, sending a dark plume of smoke into the air.
The video was taken from a site adjacent to the school, while smoke was already rising from its vicinity. Satellite imagery of the compound is consistent with visual identifiers found in the video, including a flat-roofed building, power lines and vehicles.
US Central Command has acknowledged using Tomahawk missiles in this war and even released a photo of the USS Spruance, part of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier group located within range of the school, firing a Tomahawk missile on February 28.
