Iranian authorities say at least 175 people, most of them children, were killed in the Feb. 28 strike on the Shajarah Tayyebeh Elementary School, making it one of the deadliest reported errors in recent U.S. military operations.
BY PC Bureau
March 12, 2026: A preliminary U.S. military investigation has concluded that the United States was responsible for a deadly missile strike on an Iranian elementary school, an attack that reportedly killed at least 175 people, most of them children, The New York Times has reported.
The strike occurred on February 28 in the town of Minab, where the Shajarah Tayyebeh Elementary School was hit by a Tomahawk cruise missile during a wave of U.S. attacks targeting nearby facilities linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy.
Citing U.S. officials and people familiar with the inquiry, the report said the strike was likely the result of a targeting error. Investigators found that officers at U.S. Central Command relied on outdated targeting data supplied by the Defense Intelligence Agency, which mistakenly identified the school building as a military facility. The building had once been part of an Iranian naval base but had later been converted into a school.
Breaking News: The U.S. was responsible for a missile strike on an Iranian school, an ongoing military investigation found. The inquiry said the strike — which Iranian officials said killed at least 175 people — was the result of a targeting mistake. https://t.co/88FIdIJOQi
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 11, 2026
Officials told the newspaper that the findings are preliminary, and investigators are still trying to determine why the outdated intelligence was not verified using more recent imagery or data from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
Satellite imagery reviewed by The New York Times reportedly showed that the building had been separated from the military compound years earlier, with fencing added, public entrances opened, and playground facilities created—indications that it had been functioning as a civilian school.
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The incident is emerging as one of the most serious alleged targeting mistakes in recent U.S. military operations. The newspaper reported that the United States is the only country involved in the current conflict known to use Tomahawk missiles, reinforcing investigators’ conclusions about U.S. responsibility.
The strike has also generated political controversy in Washington. Donald Trump initially suggested that Iran might have been responsible, telling reporters he did not yet know the details of the incident. However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later said the administration would accept the results of the ongoing investigation.
Defense officials including Pete Hegseth, the U.S. defense secretary, have declined to comment publicly while the investigation continues.
The findings echo past intelligence failures, including the 1999 bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade during the Kosovo War, when outdated maps led to an erroneous U.S. airstrike.
Officials involved in the current inquiry told the newspaper that the mistake in Minab appears to have resulted not from new technologies or artificial intelligence systems, but from human error and inadequate verification of intelligence data during the early days of a rapidly unfolding war.
The investigation is ongoing, and U.S. officials say further details could emerge as analysts review targeting procedures, satellite imagery, and intelligence databases used in planning the strike.
