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An investigation by the US military shows that the US is responsible for the strike on an Iranian elementary school, which led to the death of more than 165 schoolgirls and 14 teachers, the New York Times reports.
The investigation shows that the Tomahawk missile strike on 28 February, which destroyed the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school building in Tehran, was caused by reliance on outdated information provided by the Defence Intelligence Agency.
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The report suggests that the military was targeting a nearby Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) facility when it hit the school.
The preliminary investigation showed that the military had created target coordinates for this strike based on outdated information, which likely indicated that the school building was also part of the facility. The school is located 61 meters from an Iranian military base.
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The New York Times and CNN both reported that satellite imagery showed the school had been part of an IRGC base as of 2013, but that in 2016, a fence was erected to separate the school from the rest of the base.
The New York Times reported that US officials familiar with the ongoing investigation said new evidence showing that the US military conducted the strike has continued to emerge.
CNN reported that it geolocated a video of the wreckage released by Mehr News– a semi-official Iranian news agency – which showed a munition believed to be “consistent with an American BGM or UGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) striking a location inside the IRGC base on February 28.”
According to CNN, officials who spoke anonymously confirmed that US Central Command (CENTCOM) created the wrong target coordinates for the 28 February strike using outdated information.
The New York Times also reported that the Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top officials have declined to comment on the military’s findings, although they had announced that the matter was being investigated.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, last Saturday, suggested that Iran may have been responsible for bombing its own school.
“In my opinion, based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran. They’re very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions. They have no accuracy whatsoever. It was done by Iran,” he said.
The Israeli military claimed it was not aware of any Israeli or US attacks in that area.
But on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt said Mr Trump is willing to accept the findings of the investigation.
Meanwhile, many Democrats have condemned the attack, with some of them stating that the action was “appalling” and that they were “horrified” by the bombing of the school.
Senate Democrats have also demanded accountability from Mr Hegeseth.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said Mr Trump’s claim that Iran was responsible for the strike raises concerns about the credibility of other claims made by the administration.
“If they are lying about something as obvious as this, what else are they lying about?” he said.
Another senator, Chris Van Hollen, also said, “What we’re seeing is a failure to take the precautions necessary to prevent school kids from getting blown up. And that’s the consequence of the attitude that Secretary Hegseth has promoted.”
The Iranian government held a mass funeral for the schoolgirls and staff killed by the strike on the 3rd of March.
