Outdated intel ‘likely’ to blame for a deadly US strike on Iran school which killed 175 children and teachers
A preliminary investigation found that old targeting data may have led to a deadly US missile attack on a girls’ school in Iran.
A Tomahawk missile hit the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab town on February 28, killing 175 people. Most of the victims were children between the ages of 7 and 12.
It is understood the building may have once been part of the neighboring Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy compound, but was converted into a school a decade ago.
Yesterday, it was reported that military investigators determined that the United States was ‘probably’ responsible for the attack, and that Israel played a role in identifying the targets.
Officials emphasized that the findings are preliminary and that there are important unanswered questions about why outdated information was not double-checked.
On Saturday, President Donald Trump blamed Iran for the attack, telling reporters: ‘In my view, based on what I’ve seen, this was done by Iran. As you know, they are very wrong about ammunition. They have no truth whatsoever. ‘Iran did this.’
Asked yesterday about the investigation’s initial findings, he said: ‘I don’t know about that.’
Former Deputy Director of National Intelligence Beth Sanner called the attack a “huge mistake.”
Social media footage showed the moment school was hit by Tomahawk missile
Rescuers and residents search the rubble following a strike at Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school
A map shows the school’s location relative to Iranian naval bases
A protester in Seoul holds an anti-war banner with the faces of children killed in the February 28 strike
He said ‘target packets’ containing images allowed the military to decide whether a site was worth attacking.
‘These [packages] “They may be very old and need to be renewed,” he said. ‘But this school has been around for 10 years, so this is a huge mistake.
‘It should have been caught, it should have been reformed and frankly I feel terrible for the people who gave out this information but we need to learn from this and make sure we use AI and all the tools to prevent this from happening again.’
He added that although this was a “huge, terrible tragedy,” the U.S. military and intelligence community “tried very, very hard” to keep data up to date, but “errors did occur and lives were lost.”
Republican US Senator John Kennedy apologized for the ‘terrible mistake’, saying it was the kind of thing Russia did.
‘We’re investigating, but I’m not going to hide behind it,’ he said. ‘I think this is a terrible, terrible mistake.
‘The investigation may prove me wrong, I hope so. But the children are still dead, and I think it was a terrible mistake.
‘When you make a mistake you have to admit it. ‘Most people understand that no one is perfect, but I don’t think our men and women who fight for us do so on purpose.’
Yesterday, 43 Democratic senators wrote to the US Department of Defense, calling the school shooting “horrific” and demanding answers.
Among them, Senator Richard Blumental, said: ‘The US responsibility for this tragedy is sickening and the report, even if preliminary, must be published immediately. ‘The American people need and deserve to know what happened and who is responsible, including a public hearing.’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president would accept the final outcome of the investigation, adding that the investigation was “still ongoing.”
