US President Donald Trump declared that Iran may possess Tomahawk cruise missiles amid controversy over the attack that killed many people at a girls' school in Iran.
At a press conference in Florida on March 9 (US time), Donald Trump was asked about a video showing a missile suspected to be a Tomahawk falling on a target and possibly destroying a girls' school in Hormozgan province, southern Iran.
Mr. Donald Trump said he had not seen this video, but emphasized that Tomahawk missiles are a powerful weapon and have been sold to many countries. The US President said that Iran "also possesses some Tomahawk missiles" and did not rule out the possibility that Tehran was behind the attack on the school, but did not provide evidence.
Mr. Donald Trump said that this type of missile has become popular because it is sold to many other countries and affirmed that the incident is being investigated.
A primary school for girls in Hormozgan province was attacked in the opening attack of the US and Israeli campaign on February 28, killing at least 165 people. Iran accused the US of targeting the school, while Donald Trump previously blamed Tehran.
Video posted by Iranian news agency Mehr News on March 8 and geographically positioned by the Bellingcat investigation team in the Netherlands shows that the missile appears to be aimed at the base of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) near the school.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM), the agency in charge of US military operations in the Middle East, last week released a video of a US warship launching multiple Tomahawk missiles on February 28, at the same time as IRGC base and a school for girls were attacked.
Many international news agencies believe that the US is likely behind the attack, based on satellite images, geographical positioning videos and experts' assessments.
Tomahawk cruise missiles are manufactured by the defense corporation Raytheon and sold by the US to some allies such as Japan, Australia, the UK and the Netherlands. Public data shows that neither Iran nor Israel owns this type of weapon.
Satellite images from 2013 collected by the New York Times show that the girls' school was once located within the IRGC naval base. By September 2016, the school area had been completely fenced off, raising questions about whether the attack on the school was wrong or intentional.
