A US military inquiry into an airstrike that hit a girls’ school in Iran is nearing completion, according to a senior US commander.
An early internal assessment within the US military reportedly indicated that American forces were likely behind the deadly strike in Minab. The Pentagon later expanded the scope of the investigation but has not confirmed any of the preliminary findings publicly.
Iranian officials say the February 28 strike, which occurred on the first day of the conflict, resulted in the deaths of more than 175 students and teachers.
Testifying before a US House committee, US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper said the investigation was close to concluding, while cautioning against setting a fixed deadline. He emphasised the importance of transparency in the process.
Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said the situation appeared relatively clear and criticised the lack of accountability more than two months after the incident, noting that the Pentagon has previously acknowledged preliminary responsibility in similar cases before final investigations.
Cooper responded that the case was more complicated than typical strike reviews, explaining that the school was located near an active Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) cruise missile facility.
Archived material from the school’s website indicates it was situated close to an IRGC-run compound, which is controlled by Iran’s elite military organisation reporting directly to the supreme leader.
Reuters, citing sources familiar with the investigation, has reported that outdated intelligence may have been used in the targeting process.
Iran’s foreign ministry strongly rejected those claims, calling them “baseless fabrications.” Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the strike on an educational institution during school hours represented a serious breach of international humanitarian law and amounted to a war crime, arguing that technical explanations could not change the civilian nature of the site.
Cooper maintained that US forces do not intentionally target civilians and said all operations are conducted in strict compliance with the laws of war.
Cooper stated that Iranian security forces may have killed tens of thousands of civilians inside the country since late last year. He also alleged that Iran had carried out more than a thousand attacks on civilian areas across the region since the conflict began in February, resulting in at least 300 civilian deaths.
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