A preliminary probe found that the bombing of an Iranian girls' elementary school that killed at least 175 people may have been caused by a U.S. military targeting error. U.S. President Donald Trump has insisted the airstrike on the Iranian elementary school was carried out by Iran, but a procurement code from the U.S. Department of Defense was also identified in debris at the scene.
On the 11th, The New York Times (NYT) reported that a U.S. military preliminary inquiry underway indicates the United States is likely responsible for the bombing of an Iranian girls' elementary school that occurred on the 28th. According to the investigation, a targeting error occurred as U.S. forces aimed at an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval base near the school, resulting in an attack on the elementary school.
The school building was once part of a military base facility. In setting the strike coordinates, U.S. Central Command used old materials provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and those materials still listed the school building as a military target, leading to the elementary school being struck.
The military targeting process is a highly complex procedure involving multiple agencies. Data provided by intelligence agencies must be verified and updated with the latest information. If DIA targeting information is outdated, updates are made using imagery or data from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGIA), but in this case, where strikes were conducted urgently from the outset, such verification procedures appear to have been absent.
According to the NYT, officials emphasized that the findings are preliminary, while noting unanswered questions remain, including why outdated information was used and why verification procedures did not function properly. They also have not fully determined ▲ how the old information was passed to Central Command and ▲ whether the DIA possessed up-to-date information.
The bombing in question occurred on the morning of the 28th, the first day the United States and Israel attacked Iran, at a girls' elementary school in Minab, Hormozgan Province in southern Iran. The Iranian government said at least 175 people, including students and teachers in class, were killed.
The possibility that the United States was responsible for the strike was raised from the early days of the incident. In response, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt have said, "Unlike the rogue Iranian regime, the United States does not deliberately target civilians." Trump also told reporters aboard Air Force One on the 8th, "Iran did it."
However, experts analyzed that based on strike footage from the area, it appeared Tomahawk missiles were launched. Trump countered that Tomahawks are weapons possessed by multiple countries, not only the United States.
But on the 5th, Reuters reported that fragments recovered at the scene bore a procurement code issued by the U.S. Department of Defense for Tomahawk missiles. Iran also released photos of missile debris recovered at the site.
The NYT said the attack on a school full of children "will go down as one of the most horrific U.S. military mistakes in recent decades." Reuters also called it "likely to be recorded as one of the worst civilian casualty incidents in decades of U.S. conflicts."
Meanwhile, Iran condemned the strike as the work of U.S. forces, airing footage of the schoolgirls' funerals on state TV.