Trump relied on unverified intelligence to blame Iran for deadly school strike

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Trump relied on unverified intelligence to blame Iran for deadly school strike

Exclusive: Early US assessment suggesting missile was Iranian was almost immediately dismissed, sources say

Hugo Lowell in Washington
Tue 17 Mar 2026 10.00 GMT
Last modified on Tue 17 Mar 2026 16.15 GMT

Donald Trump’s attempt to blame Iran for the deadly strike on an elementary school stemmed from an early US intelligence assessment that initially suggested the missile was Iranian but was almost immediately dismissed, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The CIA initially told the president that they did not believe the missile that struck the school was a munition used by the US because the fins appeared to be positioned too low for it to be a Tomahawk cruise missile.

Within 24 hours, the CIA realized that early assessment had been wrong after it became clear from additional videos, taken at other angles, that the missile was in fact a Tomahawk, the people said on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive deliberations.

But Trump had already settled on the explanation that Iran was responsible for the strike before he raised it to reporters on Air Force One last Saturday, even as the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, was more cautious and said only the matter was under investigation.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/17/trump-intelligence-iran-school-strike

[vapor2]

1. ALF probably provided the intelligence on Iran

[stopdiggin]

2. alright - but let's not forget that he was still blaming 'others' - "other people have/use .."

even AFTER it was firmly established as a Tomahawk.

The 'truth' simply has no lifespan or role to be played with this man. Expecting anything like an honest recounting (or legitimate mistake) is simply not a tenable proposition.

Nonetheless - solid information, and good article.

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[gab13by13]

3. I heard only one person on cable news say this,

so I'm not sure it is true. I don't remember who said it even, but, she said that the bombing of the school was a double tap.

We bombed the school and then 20 minutes later we bombed the 1st responders.

Yes, it was a double tap and even worse than I imagined.

After the first missile hit there were survivors so teachers gathered up the girls to be picked up by their parents, then the 2nd missile killed them.

The intelligence came from fucking AI, this is what one gets when humans are taken out of the equation.