US President Donald Trump stated on Wednesday that it may never be known who was at fault for a deadly strike on a girls’ school in Iran on February 28, marking the first day of the Iran war. The attack killed scores of children.
Reuters reported in March that an initial internal US military investigation showed US forces were likely responsible for the fatal strike in Minab in southern Iran.
The Pentagon has since elevated this probe but has not acknowledged any preliminary findings.
“I don’t know that they are ever going to solve that problem,” Trump told reporters. “I don’t know that they are ever going to solve that problem in terms of whose fault was it because there were missiles flying all over the place, and it’s horrible what happened, but there were missiles flying all over the place.”
The strike on February 28, when the US and Israel attacked Iran, killed more than 175 children and teachers, according to Iranian officials.
Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in March that the strike may be a result of US use of outdated targeting data.
Deliberately attacking a school would likely be a war crime under international humanitarian law. US officials have publicly said Washington would not deliberately target a school.
The strike caused global outrage, with the UN human rights office calling it “absolutely horrific.”
Trump initially claimed without evidence that Iran was responsible but has since stated he does not know enough about the strike and will accept the results of the inquiry. He added that nobody purposefully attacked the school.