US military investigators believe American forces may have been responsible for a missile strike on a girls’ school in southern Iran that reportedly killed a large number of students, although the investigation has not yet reached a final conclusion, according to two US officials familiar with the matter.
The officials said the ongoing probe has so far pointed toward a likely US role in the attack, but stressed that the investigation remains incomplete. They noted that additional evidence could still change the findings and potentially indicate that another party was responsible.
The incident occurred on Saturday during the first day of coordinated US and Israeli attacks on Iranian targets. The school that was struck is located in Minab, in the southern part of the country.
According to Ali Bahreini, Iran’s envoy to the United Nations in Geneva, about 150 schoolgirls were killed in the strike. However, independent confirmation of the reported casualty figure has not been possible.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth acknowledged earlier this week that the American military was examining the circumstances of the attack. He told reporters that US forces do not intentionally target civilian sites but said the military was reviewing what had happened.
The Pentagon referred further inquiries to the US Central Command. Captain Timothy Hawkins, a spokesperson for the command, declined to provide additional details, saying it would be inappropriate to comment while the investigation is ongoing.
The White House also avoided direct discussion of the findings. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the incident is under review and maintained that the United States does not deliberately strike civilians or children.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that Washington would never intentionally target a school and said any such allegation would be taken seriously.
Sources familiar with operational planning said that US and Israeli forces have been dividing their military operations inside Iran based on both geography and the type of targets involved. Israeli forces have mainly focused on missile launch facilities in western Iran, while American forces have reportedly been striking missile systems and naval targets in southern regions.
The United Nations human rights office has called for a thorough investigation into the incident. Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said that responsibility for examining the strike lies with the forces that carried it out.
Iranian state television later broadcast images from funeral ceremonies held for the victims. The footage showed small coffins wrapped in Iranian flags being carried through crowds of mourners before burial.
Under international humanitarian law, intentionally attacking civilian sites such as schools or hospitals could constitute a war crime. If the ongoing investigation ultimately confirms US involvement, the incident could become one of the deadliest civilian casualty events linked to American military operations in the Middle East in recent decades.
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