US probe into strike on Iran girls’ school near conclusion, US admiral says
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A banner with a picture of Iran's new supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei next to a symbolic classroom of the Minab school students who were killed in a strike, in Tehran, Iran.
PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON – A US military investigation into a strike on a girls’ school in Iran has been “complex”, given that it was located on an active Iranian cruise missile base, but the probe is approaching its conclusion, a US military commander said on May 19.
Reuters first reported that an initial, internal US military investigation showed that US forces were likely responsible for the fatal strike in Minab. The Pentagon has since elevated the probe, but it has not acknowledged any preliminary findings.
The incident took place on Feb 28, on the first day of the conflict, and killed more than 175 children and teachers, Iranian officials say.
“I’m always reluctant to put a timetable on it. (The investigation) is coming to the end, and I think transparency is important,” US Admiral Brad Cooper, head of Central Command, testified on May 19 before a committee in the US House of Representatives.
Democratic lawmakers pressed Adm Cooper to publicly acknowledge the likely US responsibility.
US Representative Adam Smith, the top Democrat in the House Armed Services Committee, said: “It’s really pretty clear what happened there. But 80 days on, we have not taken responsibility for that attack.”
Mr Smith noted past examples of errant US strikes and how the Pentagon would accept initial responsibility ahead of the completion of its investigation.
But Adm Cooper suggested that the school strike was different.
“The school itself is located on an active IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) cruise missile base. It’s more complex than the average strike,” he told Mr Smith.
Archived copies of the school’s official website show that the school is adjacent to a compound operated by the IRGC, the military force that reports to Iran’s supreme leader.
Reuters, citing sources familiar with the matter, has reported that US officials responsible for creating targeting packages appeared to have used out-of-date intelligence.
Law of war
Adm Cooper said the US military never targets civilians and said it would follow the law of war “to a T”.
Republican lawmakers asked Adm Cooper for details on Iran’s alleged attacks on civilians, both inside Iran and throughout the Middle East.
Iranian authorities killed thousands of people during anti-government protests in January, Iran’s worst domestic unrest since the era of its 1979 Islamic Revolution. Rights groups say the government has continued to crack down on opponents while the war goes on.
Adm Cooper estimated that Iranian security forces have killed tens of thousands of civilians inside Iran since late 2025. Since the April 8 ceasefire, Iran has hanged dozens of people, he added.
He also said Iran had intentionally struck civilian areas throughout the Middle East more than a thousand times since the conflict began in February, killing at least 300 civilians.
REUTERS
