Weeks of silence over Iran school strike highly unusual, former US officials say

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Weeks of silence over Iran school strike highly unusual, former US officials say 2 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Tom Bateman, State Department correspondent and Cai Pigliucci Verified video shows damage and smoke at Iranian school in Minab Five former US officials, including a former top military lawyer, have criticised the Pentagon for not acknowledging potential American involvement in a deadly strike on an Iranian school earlier this year. Some of those officials said it was highly unusual not to release even basic details of the strike after such a length of time. A missile hit a primary school in Minab during the opening salvos of the US-Israeli war on February 28, killing 168 people including around 110 children according to Iranian officials.

In the two months since then the Pentagon has said only that the incident is under investigation. US media reported in early March that US military investigators believed American forces were likely responsible for hitting the school unintentionally but had not reached a final conclusion. Asked a series of questions by the about the strike and the accusations of a lack of transparency, a Pentagon official said "this incident is currently under investigation," adding that more details would be provided when they became available.

The Details

The has reviewed three historical cases in which civilians were killed during US military operations and in each case significantly more information had been released by the Pentagon within less than a month. The current US position "strikingly departs from the standard response," said Lt Col Rachel E VanLandingham, a retired Judge Advocate General in the US Air Force and former senior legal adviser at US Central Command during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Administrations in the past at least demonstrated fidelity, a commitment to the law of war," said VanLandingham, who argued what was "missing" from the administration's statements was a commitment to accountability and "importantly to ensure this doesn't happen again".

asks Hegseth about reports of strike on Iranian girls school President Trump said on 7 March that in his "opinion" Iran was to blame for the Minab strike, without providing evidence. Days later, when asked about video showing a US Tomahawk hitting the military base next to the school, he said: "I haven't seen it" and claimed without evidence that Iran had Tomahawk missiles. On 11 March, when asked about reports that an initial military probe had found that the US hit the school, Trump said: "I don't know about it".

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth was asked by the on 4 March about the strike and said: "All I can say is that we're investigating that. We of course never target civilian targets". The US Department of Defense has declined to answer multiple questions about the strike.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.