Nearly four months after a US Tomahawk cruise missile struck a girls' elementary school in the Iranian town of Minab, killing at least 175 people—mostly children—the Pentagon has yet to release findings from its investigation into the incident. Critics fear the report may be suppressed under classification to avoid accountability.
The attack occurred on the first day of US military operations in Iran, targeting what officials anonymously claimed was believed to be an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) base. Witnesses described a 'double tap' strike, with a second missile hitting the school after the initial blast. Among the victims was seven-year-old Hanieh Ahmadi Tifakani, killed alongside all her classmates, and her 10-year-old brother Sobhan, who died in the second explosion while searching for his sister.
President Donald Trump, speaking at the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, dismissed the incident as a mistake, saying, 'Nobody did that on purpose.' He added, 'Mistakes are made. The war is nasty.' Trump earlier suggested Iran was responsible for the attack, a claim contradicted by evidence of a US-made Tomahawk missile.
Under Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, the Pentagon has scaled back civilian oversight of combat incidents, part of his 'anti-woke' agenda. Former Pentagon officials expressed doubt that the current administration would take responsibility or release the full report. 'I'm very doubtful that the Hegseth Pentagon will follow through,' said one former senior official.
The Minab bombing ranks among the worst civilian casualty incidents in recent US military history, comparable to the 2017 Mosul airstrike and the 1991 Amiriyah shelter bombing. US Central Command declined to provide updates, stating, 'We have no updates at this time.'
