US hit another Iranian school using a precision missile untested for war on the same day as Minab strike, claims report

Did the US attack yet another school in Iran, similar to the Minab strike, that too using missiles untested for warfare? A New York Times investigation report has claimed that the US military used a combat-untested Precision Strike Missile, or PrSM, in a strike that hit an Iranian sports hall and an adjacent elementary school in Lamerd, southern Iran, on February 28, the first day of the Iran–US–Israel war. Iranian officials cited in media reports had stated that this strike, and others nearby in the city of Lamerd, killed at least 21 people including children.

What the NYT report claims

The NYT report on Sunday (Mar 29), citing weapons experts and visual analysis, claimed that a weapon “bearing the hallmarks of a newly developed US-made ballistic missile” was used in the attack that struck a sports hall and an adjacent elementary school near a military facility in southern Iran. The Times, as well as some other global media outlets, verified videos of two strikes in Lamerd, as well as aftermath footage from the attacks.

The weapon’s features, explosions and damage are consistent with a short-range ballistic missile called the Precision Strike Missile, or PrSM, the NYT report said citing munitions experts.

The sports hall in Lamerd was being used by a girls’ volleyball team at the time of the attack, according to reports. Of the 21 victims, there were two schoolgirls aged 10 and 11, and their volleyball coach, reports said.

About the Precision Strike Missile allegedly used on the Iran school

In use was a short-range ballistic missile developed by the US Army and Lockheed Martin.

The Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) is designed to detonate just above its target and disperse small tungsten pellets outwards, the report said.

Munitions experts matched the missile’s silhouette in flight videos, mid-air fireball, and pockmarked damage patterns from the pellets to the PrSM, it said.

Videos that capture one strike, in a residential area about 900 feet from the sports hall and school, showed the weapon in flight, with a distinctive silhouette.

“The missile erupts in a large fireball mid-air. Another video, filmed from a security camera directly across from the sports hall, shows the strike on the hall and adjacent school,” said the report.

Photos of the aftermath showed that both sites were pockmarked with holes, apparently from the tungsten pellets.

Iran as weapons testing ground? Pentagon is allegedly using untested missiles in Iran

According to the report, the Pentagon used missiles untested in combat in the deadly attack that struck civilian sites near a military compound on February 28, including on Lamerd.

The PrSM had only finished prototype testing in 2025 and had not been used in a war till the alleged attack.

An unnamed US official told the NYT that the missile used in the Lamerd strike was indeed a PrSM.

The newly revealed strike took place on the same day as the deadly Minab school strike

The newly reported strike took place on the same day as the widely reported and condemned attack on a primary school in Minab, hundreds of miles away.

It was revealed days later that a US Tomahawk cruise missile was used in the Minab strike, killing 175 people, mostly young schoolgirls.

If confirmed, the Lamerd incident would be the second American strike on an Iranian school or civilian educational and sports facility on February 28.

Iranian military sites may have been the intended targets

Both sites were apparently located near facilities belonging to the Iranian military or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

It could have been a case of a missed target.

The US has not officially confirmed or denied the alleged Lamerd attack at the time of writing.

Earlier, the Pentagon had acknowledged using Tomahawks and other precision weapons in the broader campaign.

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