A preliminary U.S. military investigation has reportedly concluded that American forces were responsible for a missile strike that destroyed an elementary school in southern Iran last month, killing at least 175 people, most of them children.
The strike occurred Feb. 28 in the coastal city of Minab and hit the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school. Iranian officials reported that the majority of those killed were students, making the attack one of the deadliest incidents involving civilian casualties in the current conflict.
According to officials familiar with the early findings, the investigation determined the attack was the result of a targeting error by U.S. military planners. The strike was reportedly carried out with a Tomahawk cruise missile during a broader operation targeting facilities associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps naval forces located near the school.
Investigators found that officers at U.S. Central Command generated the strike coordinates using outdated intelligence data provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency. The incorrect information led planners to target a location that included the school building.
The inquiry is still ongoing, and U.S. defense officials have declined to discuss details while the investigation continues. Pentagon representatives have said only that the incident remains under review.
The findings appear to support earlier claims by Iranian officials that the United States was responsible for the attack. Iranian authorities released video footage after the strike showing the destroyed school and fragments believed to be from a U.S.-made missile.
Satellite imagery and independent analysis have also supported the conclusion that the school was struck during a series of attacks aimed at nearby military facilities. Videos circulating on Iranian social media showed the remains of the school building and smoke rising from the direction of an adjacent Revolutionary Guards compound.
Investigators and analysts were able to match visible landmarks in the footage with satellite images of the Minab area, confirming the location of the strike and the surrounding buildings. The evidence showed that the missile impacted near the military complex located next to the school.
Munitions experts reviewing the footage identified the weapon as a Tomahawk missile. Analysts say the United States is the only military participant in the current Iran conflict known to deploy that type of cruise missile, strengthening the conclusion that the strike originated from American forces.
Satellite imagery indicates that while the school site had once been part of a larger Revolutionary Guards compound years ago, the facility had been separated from the military complex for nearly a decade. The building displayed clear visual markers of a functioning school, including murals and recreational areas visible in aerial imagery.
Despite those indicators, its proximity to the military base appears to have played a role in the targeting decision.
The strike and its aftermath have intensified scrutiny of the military campaign and raised questions about intelligence gathering and targeting procedures. The investigation into the incident is continuing as U.S. officials review the chain of decisions that led to the fatal strike.
Source: The Guardian