March 11 (UPI) — The U.S. military is responsible for the deadly strike on an elementary school for girls in Iran, unnamed sources familiar with the internal investigation into the incident said Wednesday.
The strike on Feb. 28, with a Tomahawk missile was likely the result of “outdated” intelligence, The New York Times, CNN and NBC News reported. The investigation is ongoing and the U.S. military has not yet formally concluded that the United States is responsible.
The death toll from the strike has climbed to more than 170 people, most of whom were children, Iranian officials say.
Among the countries directly involved in the war — the United States, Israel and Iran — the United States is the only one to use Tomahawk missiles.
The outdated intelligence in question was related to an Iranian naval base near the school. In 2013, the Shajareh Tayyiba school and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base were part of the same compound. That information was used by U.S. Central Command to coordinate its strikes on Iranian targets.
President Donald Trump has disputed that the United States is responsible for the strike. On Sunday he claimed, without providing evidence, that Iran was responsible.
“In my opinion, based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran,” Trump said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth alleged Tuesday that Iran has targeted civilians “indiscriminately,” while saying during a press briefing that the United States has attempted to avoid civilian casualties.
