Pentagon believes U.S. struck Iran girls elementary school, killing 150

Pentagon investigators believe U.S. forces carried out a devastating airstrike that destroyed an Iranian girls’ elementary school last Saturday, killing more than 150 people in the deadliest attack of the week-long war, according to a newly released report.

An initial assessment suggests that U.S. forces are responsible for the deadly strike in the southern Iranian town of Minab, echoing previous claims by Iranian officials, Reuters reported, citing two Pentagon officials.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed questions about the attack on Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ school, saying the incident was still under investigation, without offering a time frame for completing the investigation.

He said the United States does not deliberately target schools or other civilian targets.

“All I can say is we’re investigating it,” Hegseth said Thursday. “Of course, we never target civilian targets, but we look at them and investigate them.”

The New York Times earlier reported that satellite images, social media posts and verified videos showed the school was attacked at the same time the United States struck a nearby naval base operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The timing and similar nature of the attack on the school suggests that U.S. forces were responsible for both strikes.

Iran’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, denounced the attack as “unjustifiable” and “criminal” in a letter to a UN human rights official last weekend.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for an investigation into the incident, but has not identified those responsible.

On Tuesday, thousands of mourners filled the streets of Minab, a town near the Strait of Hormuz, for the funerals of the victims, most of whom were children.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also said the attack was under investigation.