US responsible for deadly strike on Iran school that killed 160, mostly girls: NYT report finds

A Tomahawk missile strike on a school in southern Iran in February that reportedly killed more than 160 people, mostly children, was likely the result of a targeting mistake by the United States, according to a preliminary US military investigation cited in a report by the New York Times.

The report on 11 March, quoting unnamed US officials and others familiar with the initial findings, said the initial investigation has concluded that the strike on 28 February on the Shajarah Tayyebeh school building was the result of a targeting mistake by the US military planners.

The US military was conducting strikes on an adjacent Iranian base, of which the school building was formerly a part, the preliminary investigation found, according to the NYT report.

Officers at US Central Command created the target coordinates for the strike using outdated data provided by the Defence Intelligence Agency, people briefed on the investigation quoted in the report said.

The findings are preliminary, and some unanswered questions about why the outdated information had not been double-checked remain.

Iranian officials have said the death toll was at least 160 people, most of them children, in the attack on the first day of the US-Israel joint strike on Iran, which also killed the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The NYT report said that the satellite imagery, social media posts and verified videos assembled by the newspaper's visual investigation team indicate that the school was severely damaged by a precision strike that occurred around the same time as attacks on the naval base. The analysis showed that thebase was hit again within around two hours of the first strikes, it said,

A video uploaded Sunday by Iran’s semiofficial Mehr News Agency has also been verified by the NYT. The video also shows a Tomahawk cruise missile striking the naval base beside the school in Minab on 28 February.

The Sharjareh Yayyebeh girls’ elementary school, in Minab town of Iran, is on the same block as buildings used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Navy, a top target of the US military strikes, the NYT report said, citing satellite imagery.

There were clear visual indications that it is an educational facility, including colourful murals on the walls and small sports playing fields – both visible in some satellite imagery. A visual investigation by theNYT showed the building housing the school had been fenced off from the military base between 2013 and 2016.

There is no indication that the school was a military-use building at the time of the strike, the report said, adding its location provided a plausible reason why the US or Israel may have selected targets in that area.

“Officials briefed on the inquiry said the building was not always used as a school, though it is not clear precisely when the school opened on the site. A visual investigation by The Times showed the building housing the school had been fenced off from the military base between 2013 and 2016,” the NYT report reads.

The US has so far denied the charges. This Saturday, President Donald Trump said Iran was responsible for the school bombing. “In my opinion, based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran … They’re very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions. They have no accuracy whatsoever. It was done by Iran," he said.

Israel has denied any connection to the strike and The New York Times reported on Wednesday that it resulted from a targeting mistake by the US military.

The reported toll climbed swiftly and, according to state media, funerals were held for at least 165 people, including slain students.

State television carried images showing a large crowd of mourners weeping over what appeared to be bodies wrapped in white shrouds. Other images released by state media showed individuals preparing coffins draped in the Iranian flag -- some bearing photographs of children.

President Masoud Pezeshkian blamed the United States and Israel for the strike.

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that the school was hit by a US Tomahawk missile because of a targeting mistake. The newspaper, citing US officials, said the investigation was ongoing but that preliminary findings indicated the United States was responsible.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week the United States would not intentionally target a school.

"We have checked multiple times and have found no connection between the IDF and whatever happened in that school," Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said.

Norway-based rights group Hengaw said the school was holding its morning session when the strike occurred, and that about 170 students were present.

News agency AFP has geolocated the clip to a building in Minab, though it has not been able to independently verify the nature of the site. The agency has confirmed the building was located in close proximity to two sites controlled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

The Shahid Absalan clinic, under the supervision of the Guards navy's medical command, lies 238 metres (780 feet) from the site, while the Seyed al-Shohada IRGC cultural complex is 286 metres away.

(With AFP and NYT inputs)