Civilian Casualties

Top story: “New U.S. Missile Hit Iranian Sports Hall and School, Analysis Shows” (NYT)

• 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.

• 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.

• The sports hall, at the time of the strikes, was being used by a female volleyball team, according to Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s representative to the United Nations. Photos and videos posted to a social media account linked to the school show the premises were regularly used by children. The sports hall has also for years been publicly identified as a civilian-use facility on readily available digital mapping platforms, including Google Maps, Apple Mapsand Wikimapia, according to a review by The Times.

HEADLINES:

• Iran war: Tehran warns US against ground assault (DW)

• Pentagon prepares for weeks of ground operations in Iran (WP)

• Iran warns US against ground invasion as regional diplomats seek an end to the war (AP)

• Iran Recruits Volunteers, Expands Check Points Amid Ground Invasion Threat (WSJ)

• Pope Leo XIV rejects claims that God justifies war in Palm Sunday Mass message (NPR)

• As US troops sail to Middle East, how likely is Trump to order boots on the ground? (Guardian)

• A Toothless Iran? Missile and Drone Strikes Show It Can Still Inflict Pain. (NYT)

• The Iran war will cement China’s superpower status (FT)

• Pakistan hosts diplomatic discussions on ending war (NPR)

• How Pakistan Wooed Trump and Styled Itself as a Peace Broker in Iran Conflict (WSJ)

• By invoking his faith in wartime, Hegseth breaks with history (WP)

• U.S. to Allow Russian Oil Tanker to Reach Cuba, Breaking Blockade (NYT)

• Building Tanks While the Ukrainians Master Drones (Atlantic)

• The ‘No Kings’ Protests May Be the Turning Point We Desperately Need (Daily Beast)

• No Kings protests fill streets at over 3,300 rallies in all 50 states, the largest yet (WP)

• Looking to limit birthright citizenship, Trump turns to an 1884 Supreme Court ruling against a Native American man (NBC)

• Here’s why Democrats are in such a mess in the California governor’s race (SFC)

• The Man Who Thought He Could Keep AI Safe (Atlantic)

• Behind the Curtain: AI’s looming cyber nightmare (Axios)

• Epidemiologists Confirm First Airborne Transmission Of Mar-A-Lago Face (Onion)