U.S. Airstrikes on Iranian School Under Investigation

More than 100 days have passed since U.S. airstrikes destroyed an elementary school in Minab, a city in southern Iran. President Trump stated that the event remains under investigation.

A memorial has been held for the victims of the Iranian school, where officials reported at least 175 fatalities. Most of those killed were children.

On a Wednesday at the Group of 7 summit in France, President Trump addressed questions about the U.S. airstrikes that impacted the Iranian school on the first day of the conflict. He remarked, “Mistakes are made. War is nasty.” This response was the closest acknowledgment from the president regarding U.S. responsibility for the strikes.

The Pentagon is still examining the circumstances surrounding two airstrikes that destroyed the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school. According to President Trump, the U.S. military is conducting an internal investigation.

“Nobody did that on purpose,” President Trump added.

U.S. military officials privately admitted that American forces executed the strikes, attributing them to an intelligence failure. The school was situated near a base used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy. Originally, the school’s location had been part of the base itself.

Those officials revealed that outdated imagery, unrenewed for seven years, was used by military personnel responsible for choosing targets. The outdated images did not show the school next to the base. Despite some involved in the site assessment being aware of a building on the base that appeared to have been converted into a school, this information failed to reach the officials responsible for targeting. As a result, intelligence and military officials classified the site as a legitimate bombing target.

The initial strike on the school resulted in the deaths of many students. A second strike, known among the military as a “double tap,” claimed more lives. Imagery reviewed by The New York Times indicated that multiple precision strikes hit six Revolutionary Guards buildings in addition to the school.

This incident represented the worst civilian casualty event caused by the U.S. military since the 1991 bombing of a civilian air-raid shelter in Baghdad, which killed over 400 people, mainly women, children, and older Iraqis.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs contributed reporting from Évian-les-Bains, France. Max Bearak, a correspondent for The Times, focuses on breaking and international news.