US responsible for strike on Iranian school, preliminary inquiry says
Julian E. Barnes, Eric Schmitt, Tyler Pager, Malachy Browne And Helene Cooper
Washington: An ongoing military investigation has determined that the United States is responsible for a deadly Tomahawk missile attack on an elementary school in Iran, according to U.S. officials and others familiar with preliminary findings.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the February 28 attack on the Shajarah Tayyebeh primary school building was the result of a targeting error by the US military, which launched an attack on the adjacent Iranian base of which the school building was previously a part. Officers at U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) created target coordinates for the attack using outdated data provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), people with knowledge of the investigation said.
Officials emphasized that the findings are preliminary and that there are important unanswered questions about why outdated information was not double-checked.
Attacking a school full of children will surely go down as one of the most devastating military mistakes in recent years. Iranian officials said the death toll was at least 175 people, most of them children.
While the overall finding was widely expected (the US is the only country involved in the conflict and using Tomahawk missiles), it has already cast a shadow over the US military operation in Iran.
President Donald Trump’s efforts to claim responsibility for the attack have also complicated the investigation and caused discomfort among officials reviewing evidence of U.S. culpability. People interviewed for this story spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitive nature of the ongoing investigation and Trump’s claim at one point that Iran, not the United States, was responsible.
“Like New York Times In her statement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that she acknowledged in her report that the investigation was still ongoing.
People briefed on the investigation said many questions remain unanswered about why outdated information was used and who could not verify the data.
Still, the error did not surprise current and former officials.
The school in the town of Minab is located in the same block as buildings used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy, the main target of US military strikes. The location of the school was originally part of the base. Officials who received information about the investigation said that the building was not always used as a school, but it is not known exactly when the school was opened.
visual inspection by Times It showed that the building where the school is located was fenced off as a military base between 2013 and 2016.
Satellite images were examined Times It showed that the watchtowers that once stood near the building were removed, three public entrances to the school were opened, the ground was cleaned, playgrounds, including the sports field, were painted with asphalt, and the walls were painted blue and pink.
“Target coding” provided by DIA, the military intelligence agency that helped develop the targets, tagged the schoolhouse as a military target when it was turned over to CENTCOM, the military headquarters that oversees the war, according to people with knowledge of the investigation’s preliminary findings.
Investigators cannot yet fully understand how outdated data was sent to CENTCOM or whether DIA updated the information.
Military targeting is very complex and involves multiple agencies. Many officers were responsible for verifying that the data was accurate, and officers at CENTCOM were responsible for checking the information they received from the DIA or another intelligence agency. However, in rapidly developing situations such as the opening days of war, information is sometimes not verified.
In addition to DIA and CENTCOM, researchers are also examining the work of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, known as NGA, which provides and examines satellite images of potential targets.
U.S. officials and others have emphasized that the investigation is ongoing and there is more to learn, according to people familiar with the investigation. CENTCOM officials declined to comment. DIA officials referred questions to the Pentagon, but the Pentagon declined to comment, saying the incident was under investigation. NGA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
DIA and NGA have dozens, even hundreds, of analysts at combatant commands who work with military operations planners and intelligence offices to develop targets.
When DIA’s targeting data is outdated, intelligence officers are expected to use imagery or data from NGA to update and verify the target.
While Trump has made targeting Iran’s navy a top priority of the war to prevent it from interfering with global trade in the region, historically that has not been a top priority for the DIA, which has focused more on Iran’s missiles and other priorities such as China and North Korea.
Investigators examined whether any artificial intelligence models, data-scanning programs or other technical intelligence-gathering tools were responsible for the inadvertent targeting of the school, according to U.S. officials.
While Claude, the large language model created by Anthropic, does not directly create targets, it works with NGA’s Maven Intelligent System and other software to identify areas of interest to military intelligence officers.
But officials said it was unlikely the error was the result of new technology. Instead, they said, it likely reflected a common but sometimes devastating human error in wartime.
The most significant finding of the internal military investigation reflects a growing body of public evidence that clearly establishes U.S. responsibility.
Satellite images, social media posts and verified videos Times’ The visual inspection team states that the school was severely damaged by the precision strike, which occurred around the same time as the attacks on the naval base. A. Times analysis showed that the base was hit again about two hours after the initial attacks.
It was uploaded on Sunday by Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency. Times it also shows a Tomahawk cruise missile attacking the naval base next to the school in Minab on February 28.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other administration officials declined to comment on the attack, except to say it was under investigation. Despite this, the president has occasionally tried to place the blame on Iran.
“From what I see, Iran did this,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday as Hegseth stood next to him, adding: “As you know, they are very wrong about the munitions. They have no accuracy whatsoever. Iran did this.”
one on monday Times The reporter asked Trump why he was the only official in his administration to blame Iran.
Trump falsely suggested that Iran might also have Tomahawk missiles, replying, “Because I don’t know enough about it,” but adding that he would accept the results of an investigation into what happened.
This article was first published on: New York Times.
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