WASHINGTON, April 1. /TASS/. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) has denied claims of attacking a gymnasium and elementary school in the Iranian city of Lamerd on February 28. The corresponding statement was posted on the CENTCOM website.
"Several media outlets recently reported accusations of US forces striking a sports hall and residential area in the city of Lamerd, Iran, on Feb. 28. After looking into the reports, US Central Command has confirmed the accusations are false," a CENTCOM spokesperson said in a statement. He also rejected claims that a Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) was used, saying footage circulating in media reports does not correspond to the system’s specifications. "US forces did not launch any strikes at any time into the city of Lamerd or anywhere within 30 miles (48 kilometers) during the opening day of Operation Epic Fury," the statement reads.
The New York Times previously reported that the US military used a newly developed short-range ballistic missile, the PrSM, to strike the city of Lamerd in southern Iran on February 28. The US-made ballistic missile was used in an attack that struck a sports hall and adjacent elementary school near a military facility in southern Iran, killing 21 people. According to Iran’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, another 100 people were wounded.
The United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were struck. The White House justified the attack by citing alleged missile and nuclear threats from Iran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a retaliatory operation, targeting sites in Israel. US military bases in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were also hit. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some other key Iranian leaders were killed in the joint US-Israeli attack.