Summary: President Trump claimed Iran possesses Tomahawk cruise missiles and suggested Iran might be responsible for a strike on an Iranian girls’ school; experts and analysts immediately disputed the Tomahawk assertion. Tomahawks are manufactured by Raytheon and tightly controlled for export; Iran is not known to possess RGM-/UGM-109 Tomahawks and would likely lack the technical infrastructure to operate them. Video of the strike shows a missile near an IRGC base, and several outlets have concluded the U.S. is likely responsible for that strike, but definitive public proof about the school strike itself is not available. Trump also made contradictory statements about damage to Iran’s forces and underestimated the U.S. exposure to oil-market disruptions via the Strait of Hormuz.
Fact Check: Trump’s False Claim That Iran Has Tomahawk Missiles — Experts Dispute School Strike Attribution
At a Monday press conference, President Donald Trump rejected suggestions that the United States was responsible for a deadly strike on a girls’ elementary school in Iran and asserted that Iran possesses Tomahawk cruise missiles. Arms experts and analysts immediately disputed that claim.
What a Tomahawk Is — And Who Owns Them
Tomahawk cruise missiles are produced by U.S. defense contractor Raytheon for the U.S. military and are subject to strict export controls. Since the 1990s, only a small group of U.S. allies — including the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and the Netherlands — have been authorized to buy Tomahawks. Iran is not known to be among those countries, and it has been an adversary of the United States since the late 1970s.
“Iran definitely does not, repeat does not, have Tomahawks,” said Jeffrey Lewis, distinguished scholar of global security at Middlebury College.
Retired U.S. Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, a frequent critic of Mr. Trump, called the statement “astonishing” and “childish” on social media.
Video Evidence and Missile Identification
A video published by a semi-official Iranian news agency appears to show a cruise missile striking an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval base adjacent to the school. While responsibility for the school strike itself has not been definitively established, visual analyses by CNN and other outlets have concluded the United States was likely responsible for the nearby strike.
Some analysts who have viewed the footage argue the missile seen is visually consistent with a Tomahawk, while other experts emphasize that Iran is not known to possess RGM-/UGM-109 Tomahawk missiles. N.R. Jenzen-Jones, director of Armament Research Services, said the weapon in the video looks “clearly a Tomahawk,” but also acknowledged he did not have access to classified intelligence.
Could Iran Operate Tomahawks If It Did Obtain Them?
Experts note that even if Iran had acquired Tomahawks through illicit channels, operating them would present additional technical challenges. Reports and analysts cited by news outlets have said Iran likely lacks the specialized infrastructure to program and upload complex flight-path data into a Tomahawk’s onboard computer and would need an appropriate launcher to fire the missile safely.
Trump’s Broader Claims and Contradictions
At the same briefing, Mr. Trump made several conflicting statements about the scope of damage to Iran’s military capabilities. He alternately described wiping out Iran’s forces “very completely,” then said “most” of its naval power had been sunk; he cited major percentage declines in missile and drone launchers without providing verifiable data. Such assertions have not been independently verified.
He also downplayed the impact of disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, asserting the situation “doesn’t really affect us” because the United States has abundant oil and gas. Energy analysts disagree: U.S. fuel prices are linked to global oil markets, and recent reductions in traffic through the strait during the conflict have contributed to higher global prices that affect American consumers.
“U.S. fuel prices are inextricably tied to the global oil market. When oil prices go up, they go up for everyone — American drivers are not immune from that,” said Pavel Molchanov, an energy analyst at Raymond James.
Leadership Claims
Mr. Trump also claimed that Iran’s leadership had been largely removed, then qualified that two “levels” of leadership were gone. Observers note that Iran’s governing structures continue to function and that figures such as Mojtaba Khamenei — reported by some outlets to have been elevated following the death of former supreme leader Ali Khamenei at the outset of the war — remain known to analysts and the public.
Bottom Line: There is no public evidence that Iran possesses U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missiles, experts say. Visual analyses of the strike footage are contested, and independent confirmation of who struck the school has not been made public. Several of the president’s broader claims at the press conference were contradicted by experts or lacked verifiable data.
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