A US military investigation into a strike at a girls' school in Iran has been described as "complex" by a US military commander on Tuesday, saying that it was located on an active Iranian cruise missile base, a claim Iran denied as "baseless". Reuters first reported that an initial, internal US military investigation showed US forces were likely responsible for the fatal strike in Minab. The Pentagon has since elevated the probe but it has not acknowledged any preliminary findings.
The incident took place on 28 February, on the first day of the conflict and killed more than 175 children and teachers, Iranian officials say.
Footage from 28 February shows what appear to be US Tomahawk cruise missiles striking the area.
"I'm always reluctant to put a timetable on it. (The investigation) is coming to the end and I think transparency is important," US Admiral Brad Cooper, head of Central Command, testified on Tuesday before a committee in the US House of Representatives.
Democratic lawmakers pressed Cooper to publicly acknowledge the likely US responsibility.
"It's really pretty clear what happened there. But 80 days on, we have not taken responsibility for that attack," said US Representative Adam Smith, top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.
Smith noted past examples of errant US strikes and how the Pentagon would accept initial responsibility ahead of the completion of its investigation.
But Cooper suggested the school strike was different.
"The school itself is located on an active IRGC cruise missile base. It's more complex than the average strike," he told Smith.
Archived copies of the school's official website show the school is adjacent to a compound operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the military force that reports to Iran's supreme leader . Reuters , citing sources familiar with the matter, has reported that US officials responsible for creating targeting packages appeared to have used out-of-date intelligence.
Hours after, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei described the statements as "baseless fabrication".
"Targeting an active educational institution during school hours constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law and is a clear war crime. The civilian nature of the site cannot be obscured by technical misrepresentations," he said on X. Law of war Cooper said the US military never targets civilians and said it would follow the law of war "to a T."
Republican lawmakers asked Cooper for details on Iran's alleged attacks on civilians, both inside Iran and throughout the Middle East. Iranian authorities killed thousands of people during anti-government protests in January, Iran's worst domestic unrest since the era of its 1979 Islamic Revolution. Rights groups say the government has continued to crack down on opponents while war rages.
Cooper estimated that Iranian security forces have killed tens of thousands of civilians inside Iran since late last year. Since the 8 April ceasefire, Iran has hanged dozens of people, Cooper said.
Cooper also said Iran had intentionally struck civilian areas throughout the Middle East over a thousand times since the conflict started in February, killing at least 300 civilians.
US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran have killed at least 3,468 people, including seven infants, 376 children and 496 women, according to Iran's health ministry. It added that some 26,500 have been injured, including 4,000 women and 1,621 children.