Over 100 days after U.S. airstrikes obliterated an elementary school in Minab, a southern Iranian city, President Trump stated that the investigation continues. The strike led to at least 175 deaths, primarily children, according to Iranian officials.
During the Group of 7 summit in France, President Trump addressed reporters. He downplayed the issue of responsibility for the U.S. strikes on the war’s first day, remarking, “Mistakes are made. War is nasty.” This marked one of his closest acknowledgments of U.S. involvement to date. “Nobody did that on purpose,” Trump added.
The Pentagon is still conducting an investigation into the airstrikes that destroyed the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school in Minab. U.S. military insiders revealed that American forces conducted the strikes, attributing them to an intelligence failure. The school was adjacent to a base used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy. The school’s location was initially part of the base.
An internal investigation disclosed that military personnel tasked with selecting targets relied on outdated seven-year-old imagery. The old data did not display the newly constructed school near the base. Two participants in the military’s site review were aware that a base structure had been transformed into a school. However, this insight did not reach targeting officials, leading them to mistakenly classify the site as a legitimate bombing target.
The first strike resulted in many students’ deaths. A subsequent second strike, known in military terms as a “double tap,” caused additional fatalities. Analysis by The New York Times indicated that precision strikes hit at least six Revolutionary Guards buildings along with the school.
This incident is the U.S. military’s worst civilian casualty event since 1991, when a U.S. stealth aircraft bombed a civilian air-raid shelter in Baghdad, killing more than 400 individuals, mainly women, children, and the elderly.
Zolan Kanno-Youngs reported from Évian-les-Bains, France. Max Bearak is a correspondent focusing on breaking and international news for The Times.
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