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US probe finds targeting error behind strike on school in Iran: report
WASHINGTON: The United States was responsible for a Tomahawk missile strike on an elementary school in Iran due to a targeting mistake, a report by The New York Times said on Wednesday.
Citing US officials, the report said the investigation into the February 28 attack was still ongoing but preliminary findings indicated that American forces were behind the strike.
According to the report, the United States Central Command had been conducting missile strikes on a nearby Iranian military facility when the school building — which was once part of the same base — was mistakenly targeted using outdated coordinates.
The report said target coordinates were prepared using old intelligence data provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency, leading to the error.
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Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump suggested that Iran itself might have been responsible for the strike but later said he could “live with” whatever the investigation ultimately finds.
When asked by reporters about the newspaper’s report on Wednesday, Trump said he was not aware of it.
Iranian authorities say the missile strike on the school in Minab killed more than 150 people, although the toll has not been independently verified.
The report noted that the school is located on the same block as facilities used by the navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and that the site originally formed part of the base before being separated and converted into a school between 2013 and 2016.
AFP said it had been unable to access the strike location to independently verify the circumstances of the attack or the casualty figures reported by Iranian media.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian blamed both the United States and Israel for the strike.
However, Israel has repeatedly denied any involvement, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington would never intentionally target a school in Iran.
