U.S. military investigators believe American forces may have been responsible for a strike that hit a girls’ school in southern Iran on Saturday, killing many children. However, officials say the investigation is ongoing and no final conclusion has been reached.
Two U.S. officials told Reuters that the assessment remains preliminary. They also noted that new evidence could still emerge that might clear the United States of responsibility and point to another party.
Reuters was unable to determine what specific evidence led investigators to suspect U.S. involvement, what type of weapon may have been used, or why the school might have been targeted.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed on Wednesday that the military is investigating the incident. Officials speaking anonymously said the inquiry remains sensitive.
The school in Minab, located in southern Iran, was struck on the first day of joint U.S. and Israeli attacks against the country.
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, said the strike killed 150 schoolgirls, though Reuters could not independently verify that figure.
Archived versions of the school’s website indicate that the building is located next to a compound used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran’s elite military force.
The Pentagon referred questions to U.S. Central Command. Its spokesperson, Captain Timothy Hawkins, declined to comment while the investigation continues.
The White House also avoided addressing the investigation directly. However, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that while the U.S. military reviews the incident, the Iranian government is responsible for targeting civilians and children.
During a briefing, Hegseth stressed that U.S. forces do not intentionally strike civilian targets but confirmed that the situation is under review.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said that the United States would never deliberately attack a school and referred questions to the Defense Department.
Satellite imagery reviewed by a weapons research expert suggests the school and a nearby IRGC facility were struck by several nearly simultaneous explosive munitions, most likely delivered by aircraft.
N.R. Jenzen-Jones, director of Armament Research Services, said the available images and videos indicate coordinated strikes but cautioned that determining the exact type of weapon used remains difficult.
The U.N. human rights office has called for an investigation into the incident but has not identified who may be responsible.
Images broadcast on Iranian state television showed the funerals of the girls, with small coffins wrapped in Iranian flags carried through large crowds.
Under international humanitarian law, deliberately attacking civilian facilities such as schools or hospitals could constitute a war crime.
If U.S. involvement is confirmed, the strike could become one of the most serious incidents involving civilian casualties in decades of American military operations in the Middle East.
