Findings also contradict claims by Trump, suggesting Iran itself may be responsible for the strike
A preliminary US military investigation has concluded that a Tomahawk missile strike that hit an elementary school in southern Iran last month, killing dozens of girls, was the result of a targeting error by the United States, The New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing officials familiar with the inquiry.
The February 28 strike destroyed the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school in the town of Minab, where Iranian authorities say at least 175 people — most of them children — were killed. The attack occurred during a series of US strikes on facilities linked to the naval wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
According to people briefed on the investigation, officers at US Central Command relied on outdated targeting data provided by the Defence Intelligence Agency, which mistakenly identified the school building as part of a nearby IRGC naval base.
Officials said the building had once been part of the military facility but had later been converted into a school. Satellite imagery reviewed by investigators shows that between 2013 and 2016, the compound was separated from the base, watchtowers were removed and new entrances and play areas were built, confirming its use as a civilian educational facility.
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The erroneous “target coding” was passed to Central Command planners, who authorised the strike without detecting the error, officials said. Investigators are now trying to determine why the outdated information was not verified with newer intelligence sources.
The probe is also examining whether analysts from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which provides satellite imagery for military targeting, failed to update the data before the strike.
US officials stressed that the inquiry remains ongoing and that key questions remain unanswered, including how the obsolete intelligence entered the targeting system and which officials were responsible for verifying it.
The incident has already cast a shadow over the US military campaign against Iran and is likely to be remembered as one of the most serious targeting errors in recent decades.
The findings also contradict claims by Donald Trump, who had suggested that Iran itself might have been responsible for the strike.
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Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One earlier, Trump said he believed Iran could have carried out the attack, though he later acknowledged he did not have complete information and said he would accept the outcome of the investigation.
Satellite imagery and verified videos reviewed by journalists show that the school building was struck by a precision-guided cruise missile around the same time nearby IRGC naval facilities were attacked.
Military analysts say the tragedy highlights the complexity of modern targeting operations, where multiple intelligence agencies share responsibility for verifying data.
Officials involved in the investigation believe the strike was most likely the result of human error rather than a technological malfunction.
The Pentagon has declined to comment further while the investigation continues.
