Pentagon Probe Confirms U.S. Missile Struck Iranian Elementary School, Killing 175

A preliminary U.S. military investigation has concluded that a U.S. missile strike hit an elementary school in Iran, resulting in the deaths of at least 175 people, primarily children. This finding directly contradicts previous assertions by President Donald Trump, who claimed Iran was responsible for the attack on the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school. Officials familiar with the ongoing inquiry indicate the incident was a "targeting error," where the facility was mistakenly identified as part of an adjacent Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy base.

The U.S. Central Command reportedly used outdated coordinates provided by another defense agency for the strike. While the school was once connected to the IRGC base, it had been partitioned off by 2016, a detail highlighted by an investigation from New Lines Magazine. This strike marks the deadliest civilian casualty event in Trump's second Iran war, with one government official describing it as "colossal negligence." The attack follows a year-long effort by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to reduce programs aimed at mitigating civilian casualties.

Experts, including Wes Bryant, a former senior analyst for precision warfare and civilian harm mitigation at the Pentagon, have labeled the incident a "failure in fundamental targeting doctrine and standards." Bryant noted the common reliance on outdated imagery in operations, emphasizing the critical need for corroboration with other intelligence and real-time characterization of targets to assess civilian risk. U.S. Central Command has declined to comment on the preliminary findings, citing the ongoing investigation.