California Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to launch strikes on Iran and cited Iranian state-linked reports alleging that U.S. or Israeli munitions hit a girls’ school. U.S. and Israeli officials have not confirmed responsibility, and independent reporting has not established who carried out the strike.
At a Monday press briefing, California Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized the Trump administration’s military operation in Iran and questioned what “imminent threat” justified the strikes. During his remarks, Newsom said: “We have to reconcile why our bombs were used, or Israeli bombs were used to kill children, young girls at a school,” citing reports carried by Iranian state-linked media. (dailywire.com)
Newsom’s comments came amid international reporting on a deadly strike at the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ primary school in Minab, in Iran’s Hormozgan province, on Saturday, February 28, 2026. Iranian authorities have blamed the United States and Israel, while U.S. and Israeli officials have not accepted responsibility and have said they are reviewing or investigating the reports. (theguardian.com)
Independent verification of the circumstances and casualty figures has been difficult due to restrictions on access and intermittent communications disruptions reported by multiple outlets. However, journalists and investigators have verified videos and imagery showing the school building destroyed and have documented that the site is located near an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) facility—an element that has figured prominently in competing claims about whether the school was struck directly or was hit in the course of attacks on nearby military targets. (theguardian.com)
Iranian officials have reported death tolls ranging from roughly 150 to nearly 200, with many victims described as schoolchildren and staff. Those figures have not been independently confirmed, and U.S. officials have said they are looking into allegations of civilian harm. (theguardian.com)
Newsom also warned that “Gulf allies [are] being attacked,” casting the escalation as a sign of widening regional instability. Saudi Arabia, which reported that Iranian strikes targeted the Riyadh region and the Kingdom’s Eastern Province and said they were intercepted, condemned the attacks in a statement carried by Saudi state-linked outlets and other media. (dailywire.com)
The Daily Wire also reported that, according to the Saudi Press Agency, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held calls with leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan, and said Saudi Arabia was ready to place its capabilities at their disposal. Those details could not be independently verified from the Saudi Press Agency in the materials reviewed for this report. (dailywire.com)
Newsom further criticized Trump over U.S. service-member deaths during the operation, with The Daily Wire reporting that the toll had risen from four to six. Separate reporting has also cited six U.S. service members killed in the conflict. (dailywire.com)
As the fighting continues, the claim at the center of Newsom’s remarks—that U.S. or Israeli bombs killed girls at a school—remains politically and diplomatically sensitive. What is publicly established is that a girls’ school in Minab was struck and destroyed on February 28, with large numbers of reported civilian deaths, while responsibility and the full circumstances remain disputed and under review by the United States and denied or not acknowledged by Israel in some accounts. (theguardian.com)
