US President Donald Trump says it may never be known who was at fault for strike on girls' school in Iran
Reuters first reported in March that an initial internal US military investigation showed US forces were likely responsible for the fatal strike in Minab in southern Iran. The Pentagon has since elevated the probe, but it has not acknowledged any preliminary findings.
“I don’t know that they are ever going to solve that problem in terms of whose fault it was because missiles were flying all over the place, and it’s horrible what happened, but there were missiles flying all over the place,” Trump told reporters.
“Somebody said it was our missile, maybe it wasn’t our missile, but I have seen nothing to lead me to believe it was,” Trump remarked, adding: “I don’t think it was us.”
The strike on February 28, when the US and Israel attacked Iran, killed more than 175 children and teachers, according to Iranian officials.
The strike may be the result of the US use of outdated targeting data, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in March.
Deliberately attacking a school would likely be a war crime under international humanitarian law. US officials have publicly said Washington would not deliberately target a school.
The strike caused global outrage. The UN human rights office called it absolutely horrific.
Trump initially claimed, without evidence, that Iran was responsible. He has since said he does not know enough about the strike, that an investigation is ongoing, that he will accept the results of the inquiry and that nobody purposefully attacked the school.