‘Despicable’ war crime: Iran slams US attack on crowded sports hall with new ballistic missile

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman says the United States committed a “despicable” war crime by conducting a strike on a crowded sports stadium using a short-range ballistic missile called the Precision Strike Missile, or PrSM, on the very first day that the US and Israel started an unprovoked war against the Islamic Republic.

In a post on his X account on Friday, Emaeil Baghaei said 21 young boys and girls were killed when the American new PrSM missile, which made its combat debut on February 28, struck the sports hall filled with innocent teenagers in the city of Lamerd in the southern province of Fars.

“The missile explodes above its target, dispersing thousands of lethal fragments (tungsten pellets) to maximize human casualties. This is a despicable war crime,” he added.

In his post, the Iranian spokesperson cited the Syrian poet Ghada al-Samman who once wrote, “They keep talking and never fall silent for even a moment—perhaps this endless chatter comes from their fear of hearing the voice of their own conscience.”

Baghaei’s post was a in response  to an analysis published by The New York Times on Sunday which said the attack that struck the sports hall in Lamerd was carried out using a weapon bearing the hallmarks of a newly developed US-made ballistic missile on the first day of the war with Iran, which killed at least 21 people.

The attack occurred the same day as a US Tomahawk cruise missile struck a school in the city of Minab, several hundred miles away, killing 175 people. In the case of Lamerd, though, it involved a weapon that had been untested in combat.

According to NY Times reporters and munitions experts, the weapon features, explosions and damage are consistent with the Precision Strike Missile, or PrSM (pronounced like “prism”), which is designed to detonate just above its target and blast small tungsten pellets outward.

The NY Times verified videos of two strikes in Lamerd, as well as aftermath footage from the attacks.

Videos that capture one strike in a residential area about 900 feet from the sports hall and school showed 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 Minab elementary 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.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir