U.S. military investigators have made a preliminary assessment that it is likely U.S. forces were responsible for an apparent strike on a girls' school in Minab in southern Iran that killed scores of children, two U.S. officials said. The officials emphasized that the investigation is unfinished and that no final determination has been reached.
Details about the inquiry have not been released. The officials did not disclose what evidence led to the tentative finding, which type of munition may have been used, who exactly carried out the strike, or the reasons why a U.S. strike would have occurred. The investigation remains active and limited information is available publicly.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday acknowledged that the U.S. military is conducting an investigation into the incident. Speaking about the probe, Hegseth said:
"Were investigating that. We, of course, never target civilian targets. But were taking a look and investigating that."
The two U.S. officials who spoke about the preliminary assessment did so on the condition of anonymity because the matter involves sensitive military information. They stressed that additional evidence could emerge that would clear U.S. forces and identify another responsible party.
Officials have not provided a timeline for the completion of the probe or specified what additional evidence investigators are seeking before finalizing their determination.
The strike on the girls' school in Minab occurred on Saturday during the first day of concurrent U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran. Iran's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, said the strike killed 150 students. That death toll has not been independently verified.
The Pentagon referred questions to U.S. Central Command, whose spokesperson, Captain Timothy Hawkins, said:
"It would be inappropriate to comment given the incident is under investigation."
The White House did not respond directly with details about the probe, but press secretary Karoline Leavitt offered a statement that acknowledged the investigation while also criticizing Iranian behavior:
"While the Department of War is currently investigating this matter, the Iranian regime targets civilians and children, not the United States of America."
Asked about the Minab strike during a news briefing, Secretary Hegseth reiterated that the investigation is ongoing and that U.S. forces do not target civilian sites. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also addressed the issue, saying the United States would not deliberately target a school and indicating that an investigation by what he described as the "Department of War" would take place if the strike were found to have been carried out by U.S. forces. Rubio said:
"The Department of War would be investigating that if that was our strike, and I would refer your question to them."
According to a senior Israeli official and a source with direct knowledge of joint planning, Israeli and U.S. operations so far had been divided both by geography and by the type of targets struck. In those arrangements, Israel focused attacks on missile launch sites in western Iran while the United States attacked similar targets and naval sites in the south.
The U.N. human rights office called for an investigation without attributing responsibility. Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the U.N. human rights office, told a press briefing in Geneva:
"The onus is on the forces that carried out the attack to investigate it."
State television in Iran aired images of funerals for the girls on Tuesday. The footage showed small coffins draped in Iranian flags being passed from a truck across a large crowd toward a gravesite.
International humanitarian law generally treats deliberate attacks on schools, hospitals and other civilian structures as likely war crimes. The reporting on the ongoing investigation notes that if a U.S. role were to be confirmed, the strike would rank among the most severe incidents involving civilian casualties in decades of U.S. conflicts in the Middle East.
What remains unresolved
- Investigators have not disclosed what specific evidence underpins their tentative assessment.
- It is not known what munition was involved or which unit may have conducted the strike.
- Officials cautioned that new evidence could shift responsibility to another actor.