Outdated intelligence likely led the United States to carry out a deadly missile strike on an elementary school in Iran that killed more than 165 people, many of them children, in the opening hours of the conflict, according to a U.S. official and a second person briefed on findings of a preliminary U.S. military investigation into the incident.
The bombing of the school and the deaths of children have become a focal point of the war. If ultimately confirmed to have been carried out by the United States, the strike would rank among the deadliest civilian casualty incidents caused by American military operations in the past two decades.
2 View gallery
The elementary school in Iran
(Photo: Abbas Zakeri/Mehr News/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS )
President Donald Trump initially blamed Iran for the attack, later said he was not certain who was responsible and then said he would accept the results of the Pentagon’s investigation. The issue gained urgency on Wednesday after The New York Times first reported that a preliminary investigation found the United States was responsible.
U.S. Central Command relied on target coordinates based on outdated data provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency, according to the person familiar with the preliminary findings.
The agency did not respond to a request for comment.
The preliminary finding prompted immediate calls for more information from the Pentagon. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the investigation is still ongoing.
Both the U.S. official and the person familiar with the matter spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue.
Dozens of Democratic senators demanded answers from the Trump administration on Wednesday as a growing body of evidence suggested the United States was likely responsible for the strike on an elementary school in Iran that killed more than 165 people, many of them children.
In a letter signed by more than 45 senators, lawmakers pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on whether the United States was responsible for the strike and what previous analysis of the building had been conducted. The senators also raised concerns about cuts to a Pentagon office created by Congress to reduce civilian casualties.
“Under this administration, budgetary and personnel cuts at the Department have robbed military commands of crucial resources to prevent and respond to civilian casualties,” the senators wrote.
Those cuts include reductions at U.S. Central Command, which is leading the military campaign against Iran, and at the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence, established by law in 2022 as part of a Pentagon initiative to reduce civilian deaths from military strikes.
The revelation could erode public support for the U.S. campaign against Iran at a time when Trump, who campaigned against American involvement in what he called “stupid” overseas wars, faces persistent questions about the purpose of the conflict and what might bring it to an end.
One former Pentagon official said the February 28 strike that hit Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School, located near a base belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, may have resulted from changes made by the Trump administration that reduced staffing dedicated to preventing civilian harm and emphasized combat effectiveness.
Evidence mounts pointing to US responsibility
Several indications suggest the strike on the school may have been avoidable.
It took place on a Saturday morning, the start of the Iranian school week, when the building was full of children. Satellite analysis by The Associated Press shows the school and other sites struck that day had characteristics visible from the air that could have identified them as civilian locations before the attack.
The AP reported last week that satellite images, expert analysis, a U.S. official and publicly released information from the U.S. military all suggested the strike was likely carried out by the United States.
The evidence strengthened Monday when new footage emerged showing what experts identified as a U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missile hitting the military compound as smoke was already rising from the area where the school was located.
Public satellite imagery shows the school building had once been part of the military compound until about 2017, when a new wall was built to separate the two. A watchtower on the property was also removed.
Around the same time, satellite images show the school’s walls were painted with bright murals, primarily blue and pink, colors visible even from space.
The school was clearly labeled on online maps and maintained a website with information about its students, teachers and administrators.
International laws governing warfare prohibit strikes on structures, vehicles and people that are not military targets or combatants. Civilian homes, schools, medical facilities and cultural sites are generally protected from military attack.
The proximity of a school to a legitimate military target does not change its civilian status, said Elise Baker, a senior staff lawyer at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank.
“If the United States is responsible,” Sen. Tim Kaine said during a briefing with reporters Wednesday, “then either we changed our traditional targeting rules or we made a mistake.”
“If we have changed our traditional targeting rules and no longer provide the same level of protection for civilians, that would be tragic,” Kaine said.
Some Republicans have also called for answers.
Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota told reporters the investigation must “get to the bottom of it” and acknowledge responsibility if errors were made.
“If the United States was behind it, the military must do everything possible to eliminate those mistakes going forward,” Cramer said.
“But you also cannot undo it.”
Safeguards against civilian casualties weakened
Congress directed the Pentagon in late 2022 to create the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence as part of the annual defense authorization bill, which passed with strong bipartisan support.
The center was intended to “institutionalize and advance knowledge, practices and tools for preventing, mitigating and responding to civilian harm.”
The initiative expanded on a 36-step action plan launched earlier that year by then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who described the effort as ambitious and necessary.
By April 2023, the office had a full-time director appointed by the Army and an initial staff of 30 civilian employees, according to a 2024 Pentagon report that expected the workforce to grow.
Wes Bryant, who began working there in 2024 as branch chief for civilian harm assessments, said one of the office’s priorities was updating the Pentagon’s “no-strike list,” a database of civilian sites that must not be targeted.
Bryant said it was widely known within the Pentagon that the list was outdated. Under Hegseth, however, the office was significantly reduced and work on updating the list stopped.
“They have no budget,” Bryant said. “They are just trying to maintain some semblance of the mission.”
Capt. Tim Hawkins, spokesman for U.S. Central Command, denied reports that only one person was assigned to the civilian harm mission but declined to provide further details, citing the ongoing investigation.