Was US strike on an Iran school that killed 170 an intelligence failure? Probe reveals new details

A preliminary US military investigation has found that a deadly missile strike on a school in southern Iran at the start of the war was likely the result of an American targeting error. The February 28 attack on Shajarah Tayyebeh Elementary School in the port city of Minab has become one of the most controversial incidents of the conflict between Iran, the United States and Israel.

According to officials briefed on the probe cited by the New York Times, a US Tomahawk cruise missile struck the school after military planners relied on outdated intelligence data while targeting an adjacent Iranian military facility. The incident reportedly killed more than 165 people, many of them children, according to Iranian media, though the casualty figures have not been independently verified.

Targeting error and outdated intelligence

Officials familiar with the preliminary investigation say the missile strike was carried out while US forces were targeting an Iranian Revolutionary Guard naval base located close to the school. Military planners reportedly used coordinates derived from intelligence provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency, which still listed the building as a military site.

However, the building had been converted into a school years earlier. Satellite imagery indicates that the structure had been separated from the adjacent military compound between 2013 and 2016, when a wall was built to divide the two areas. Over time, watchtowers were removed, playground areas were created and the walls were painted in bright colours typical of a school.

Investigators believe the outdated classification led planners at US Central Command to treat the structure as part of the military base. Officers responsible for the strike created the target coordinates based on this data, which was not fully re-verified before the missile was launched.

Officials involved in the inquiry say the investigation is still trying to determine why the outdated information was not cross-checked using newer satellite imagery or other intelligence sources. Military targeting processes usually require verification from multiple agencies, including the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which analyses satellite images of potential targets.

Civilian casualties and political fallout

The strike has become a central controversy in the early days of the war. Iranian state media reported that funerals were held for at least 165 victims, including students, after the school was hit during its morning session at the start of the Iranian school week. Images broadcast on Iranian television showed crowds mourning over coffins draped in the Iranian flag, some bearing photographs of children.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused the United States and Israel of carrying out the attack. Israel has repeatedly denied any involvement, with Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani saying there was “no connection between the IDF and whatever happened in that school”.

The United States has not formally confirmed responsibility. However, officials briefed on the investigation say the use of a Tomahawk missile strongly points to American forces, as the US is the only country involved in the conflict that deploys the weapon.

President Donald Trump initially suggested that Iran might have been responsible for the strike, despite Tehran not possessing Tomahawk missiles. Later he said he would accept whatever conclusions the investigation reached. Asked about reports that the US was responsible, Trump told reporters: “I don’t know about it.”

Questions over civilian protection measures

The incident has prompted growing criticism in Washington, with more than 45 Democratic senators demanding answers from Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth about the circumstances of the strike. In a letter to the Pentagon, lawmakers asked whether the United States was responsible and what assessments had been conducted before the building was targeted.

Some legislators also raised concerns about cuts to Pentagon programmes designed to reduce civilian casualties in military operations. These include reductions at US Central Command and the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence, a body created by Congress in 2022 to improve the military’s ability to prevent civilian harm.