A strike on a girls’ school in the Iranian city of Minab may have been carried out by U.S. forces, according to preliminary findings from an investigation underway in the United States, two American officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The officials stressed that the investigation remains ongoing, and additional evidence could alter the current assessment—including potentially refuting the suggestion of U.S. military involvement and pointing instead to another possible perpetrator.
Reuters’ sources declined to disclose what evidence the preliminary conclusions are based on. They also did not specify what type of munition was used or why the strike hit the school building.
The New York Times had earlier reported that U.S. forces may have been involved. According to the newspaper, the intended target of the U.S. Air Force was a base of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) located in Minab, and the strike on the school was likely the result of an error.
Officially, the U.S. Department of Defense has said only that it has opened an investigation into the strike on the school, providing no further details.
Iranian authorities said that 165 people were killed in the strike on the girls’ school in Minab on February 28.