Investigation into US Strike on Iranian School Stalled, Pentagon 'Dragging Its Feet'?

An internal US military investigation into a strike that hit the Shajareh Tayyiba School in Minab, Iran, has reportedly been delayed for months. Three sources familiar with the process said the Pentagon has not yet ordered the third phase of an intelligence review typically conducted after major military operations, meaning a thorough evaluation of the incident has not proceeded. “No detailed analysis has been done, and CENTCOM has locked down the investigation and blocked anyone from probing it,” one source said. Meanwhile, a US Department of Defense official only stated that the “investigation is ongoing” and that no further announcements have been made regarding its progress. According to the sources, the first two phases of the battle damage assessment were completed within a week of the strike and indicated that the US military was indeed responsible for the attack that hit the school. However, the third phase, which is usually carried out by the Defense Intelligence Agency to thoroughly analyse satellite imagery and various intelligence information, had still not been ordered as of early July. The source assessed that the independent investigation launched in March should not have hindered the DIA’s intelligence review. “Both could have proceeded simultaneously if they had chosen to,” one source said, adding that while the DIA’s analysis does not determine culpability, it can serve as crucial evidence in the investigative process. A US official defended the Pentagon’s approach, stating that the internal investigation was designed to replace the third-phase BDA assessment. According to this official, after the initial report was submitted to US Central Command in April, the investigation required more time because the suspected causes of the error had been ongoing for years and involved multiple layers of failure. Preliminary findings suggest the US military mistakenly used outdated intelligence regarding the target location, which was believed to be a base of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy. As a result, the strike hit the primary school instead. Iranian state media claimed the incident killed 168 children and 14 adults. Previous reports indicated that senior US commanders ignored warnings in an intelligence database that the target information was outdated. Two sources said the decision was made for reasons of “practicality” so that the target could be prepared quickly at the start of the conflict, but it ultimately contributed to the mis-targeting. “The Pentagon is in damage control mode,” one source said, suggesting that Pentagon and CENTCOM leadership are trying to avoid a repeat of a situation where a DIA analysis of a previous US strike on an Iranian nuclear facility contradicted President Donald Trump’s claims about the operation’s success. That report reportedly angered the White House and then-Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, leading to the removal of the DIA Director at the time, General Jeffrey Kruse. The delay in concluding the investigation has sparked protests from members of the US Congress. Around two dozen Democratic senators stated in a letter to Hegseth and CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper, “More than four months after the attack, Congress and the American people have still not received the results of the Department’s investigation. There is no excuse for withholding an unclassified report on what happened, what went wrong, and the steps to prevent it in the future.” In a recent interview with Fox News, Trump declined to commit to releasing the investigation’s findings. “I have to speak to the generals. I don’t think there will ever be a truly conclusive report,” he said. Trump also acknowledged the possibility that the use of old intelligence contributed to the incident but cast doubt on publicly circulated evidence, including satellite imagery showing fragments of a US missile at the strike site, suggesting without providing supporting evidence that the images could have been generated by artificial intelligence.