The Pentagon used missiles untested in combat in a deadly attack that struck civilian sites near a military compound on Feb. 28, according to visual evidence examined by The Times and weapons experts.March 29, 2026On the first day of the war with Iran, a weapon bearing the hallmarks of a newly developed U.S.-made ballistic missile was used in an attack that struck a sports hall and adjacent elementary school near a military facility in southern Iran, according to weapons experts and a visual analysis by The New York Times. Local officials cited in Iranian media said this strike and others nearby in the city of Lamerd killed at least 21 people.
The Times verified videos of two strikes in Lamerd, as well as aftermath footage from the attacks. Times reporters and munitions experts found that the weapon features, explosions and damage are consistent with a short-range ballistic missile called the Precision Strike Missile, or PrSM (pronounced like “prism”), which is designed to detonate just above its target and blast small tungsten pellets outward.Videos that capture one strike, in a residential area about 900 feet from the sports hall and school, show the weapon in flight, with a distinctive silhouette that matches the PrSM. The missile erupts in a large fireball midair. Another video, filmed from a security camera directly across from the sports hall, shows the strike on the hall and adjacent school. While the video does not capture an incoming missile, it clearly shows an explosion just above the structure. Photos of the aftermath show both sites were pockmarked with holes, apparently from the tungsten pellets.
In addition to the sports hall and school, and nearby residential area, a third location may have been hit in the attack. The Times verified a video that shows another plume of smoke rising close to the other strikes at the same time. Local Telegram and media reports stated a cultural center had been hit, but that couldn’t be independently verified.
At least 21 people were killed in the strikes, according to Iran’s state news agency, IRNA. While that figure has not been independently verified, photos and videos posted online by local media outlets show scenes from a mass funeral the next day, March 1. An additional hundred people were injured, said Mr. Iravani, Iran’s representative to the U.N.
Some of the casualties were volleyball players who were training inside the hall when the missile struck, according to Mr. Iravani, and eyewitnesses cited by U.S.-based online media outlet Drop Site News.
Tasnim, a semiofficial Iranian news agency, published the names of the 21 people it said were killed. An Iran-based journalist, Negin Bagheri, wrote about two of the victims: Helma Ahmadizadeh, a 10-year-old fourth-grader, and Elham Zaeri, a fifth-grader, both of whom were at volleyball practice when the missile struck. Khabar-e Jonoub, an Iranian newspaper, reported on the death of a sports coach identified as Mahmoud Najafi.