Initial Investigation Points to US Missile as Cause of Attack on Iranian Primary School
Analysis indicates that the attack on a school filled with students could rank as one of the most destructive military errors in recent decades.
An ongoing military investigation reported by The New York Times has revealed preliminary findings stating that a US Tomahawk missile strike on a primary school in Iran, which killed more than 160 people, the majority of them students, was caused by targeting errors.
Officials briefed on the investigation told the newspaper that officers at the US Central Command (CENTCOM) determined the attack coordinates using outdated intelligence information from the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), resulting in targeting failure.
The findings remain preliminary, and several critical questions remain unanswered, including why the outdated information was not rechecked, officials said according to The New York Times.
The attack on 28 February at Shajarah Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab occurred during US military operations targeting Iranian military installations nearby.
The report noted that although the finding was already suspected by many analysts, as the United States is the only nation in the conflict known to use Tomahawk missiles, the targeting error incident has discredited US military strikes in Iran.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that Iran, not the United States, was responsible for the school attack.
“Based on what I see, it was done by Iran,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Saturday (7 March).
Tomahawk missiles “are sold and used by other countries. And it could be Iran, (which) also has some Tomahawks,” Trump said on Monday (9 March).
“As The New York Times acknowledged in its own report, the current investigation is still ongoing,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement.
Analysts have said that the attack on the school filled with students could be recorded as one of the most destructive military errors in recent decades.