Probe Suggests US Responsible for Deadly Iran School Strike

American military investigators now believe it is likely that the United States was responsible for the apparent strike on an Iranian girls’ school over the weekend, which reportedly killed dozens of children, according to two US officials who spoke to Reuters. The investigation is ongoing, and the officials—speaking anonymously—cautioned that new evidence could still shift responsibility away from the US. They did not provide details on the type of weapon used, who ordered the strike, or why the school in Minab, southern Iran, was targeted on Saturday, the first day of coordinated US and Israeli attacks in the country. Iran’s ambassador in Geneva has claimed that 150 students were killed, a figure Reuters has not independently verified.

The New York Times reported similarly, noting that satellite imagery and videos suggest the school may have been hit during an attack on a nearby naval base. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed Wednesday that the military is reviewing the incident, stating, “We, of course, never target civilian targets. But we’re taking a look and investigating that.” A Pentagon spokesperson referred questions to US Central Command, which said it would be “inappropriate” to comment while the investigation is active. The White House did not confirm US involvement; press secretary Karoline Leavitt instead said Iran, not Washington, “targets civilians and children.”

US and Israeli forces have been dividing their strikes inside Iran by region and target type. Israel has focused on missile launch sites in the west, while the US has struck those sites and naval targets in the south, according to a senior Israeli official and another source. The UN human rights office has called for an inquiry, noting that responsibility for investigating lies with whoever carried out the attack. Deliberately targeting a school or other civilian site could constitute a war crime under international law, and a confirmed US role would make this one of the deadliest incidents involving civilian casualties caused by American forces in the Middle East in decades.

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