US Deadly Strike Blamed On Outdated Intel?

The U.S. military hit an Iranian elementary school and killed 168 children and 14 teachers. Two sources who were briefed on the preliminary findings of the ongoing investigation say the misguided strike is likely due to outdated intel.

The Investigation

On Feb. 28, 2026, the U.S. military conducted strikes on a neighboring Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) facility and hit the Shajareh Tayyiba school in Minab, according to the findings in the initial investigation.

The sources who spoke with CNN state that the Defense Intelligence Agency gave US Central Command outdated intel when creating target coordinates for the strike.

The Outdated Intel

According to satellite imagery from 2013, the school and the IRGC were part of the same compound. Images from 2016 showed a wall separating the school from the base. In December 2025, the imagery showed dozens of people playing in the school courtyard.

The New York Times was the first to report details from the preliminary investigation, which is ongoing.

President Donald Trump states he was not aware of the report from The New York Times about an ongoing military investigation finding the U.S. was responsible for the deadly strike on an elementary school in Iran.

CNN’s Kristen Holmes asked Trump about the story and if he accepted responsibility. He responded, “I don’t know about that.”

The overall investigation will take months to complete and will include interviews with all those involved, from planners and commanders to those who carried out the strike.

If it is confirmed that the attack came from the U.S., the incident will rank among the military’s most deadly accidents involving civilians in decades. Congress designated a special Pentagon office to prevent the accidental targeting of civilians, which was dramatically scaled back by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth last year.

“This investigation is ongoing. As we have said, unlike the terrorist Iranian regime, the United States does not target civilians,” says White House spokesperson Anna Kelly.

The Pentagon did not respond to NPR for comment.

During a press conference shortly after Operation Epic Fury began, Hegseth commented, “stupid rules of engagement,” and continued, saying such rules interfere with winning.

Preliminary Findings

The preliminary investigation is consistent with the increasingly obvious as new evidence emerged publicly, sources for CNN report: The US military conducted the attack.

Video footage geolocated by CNN as filmed from a nearby construction site and released by Mehr News, shows an American BGM or UGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (ITLAM) striking a location inside the IRGC base on Feb. 28. The camera pans to the right, and a large plume of smoke is seen coming from the direction of the Shajareh Tahhiba school.

Missile debris reportedly recovered from the strikes appears to be from an American Tomahawk cruise missile, according to a CNN analysis. It was not possible to determine where the fragments originated, but they do appear to be consistent with a U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missile, according to a CNN review and expert analysis.

Photographs of the fragments were posted on Telegram by IRIB, Iran’s state broadcaster, claiming to be from the strike.

Previously, Trump asserted that Iran was to blame for the attack on the school. When he was asked why his own administration did not publicly support that claim, he said, “Because I just don’t know enough about it.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN, “As The New York Times acknowledges in its own reporting, the investigation is still ongoing.”

Hegseth states the strike will be “thoroughly” investigated, and that the U.S. has “attempted in every way possible to avoid civilian casualties.”

Sources:

CNN: US strike likely hit a school in Iran due to outdated intelligence, sources briefed on initial findings say
NPR: Pentagon probe points to U.S. missile hitting Iranian school
NBC News: Outdated intel likely led to deadly U.S. strike on Iranian elementary school, sources say

Featured Image Courtesy of Mike Lawrence’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License