Senior US commanders reportedly rushed to approve strike lists despite system alerts that their information was outdated
Senior US military commanders ignored warnings that intelligence on targets in Iran was outdated as they rushed to compile strike lists at the start of the war, CNN reports. Citing sources familiar with the decision-making process, the broadcaster said the decision contributed to the deadly strike on an Iranian girls’ school.
The bombing – in which 120 students aged 6 to 13 were killed, in addition to 36 adults – happened on February 28, the opening day of the US-Israeli military operation against Iran.
According to the broadcaster, messages embedded in the Pentagon’s targeting system warned that intelligence on some strike sites was based on years-old information and required verification before the locations could be approved for attack.
The warnings were overridden for “expediency” as commanders sought to accelerate the approval of strike options, CNN cited three sources familiar with the decision-making process as saying on Tuesday.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced a formal investigation in March. CENTCOM Commander Brad Cooper said in May that the findings would be made public once the inquiry is complete.
According to CNN, US military officials “knew within days how the mistake happened.” One of the sources told the outlet that “it was obviously old info.”
Bloomberg reported last month that the Pentagon investigation was completed in April, and found the strike resulted from gaps in the military’s targeting system.
According to the outlet, a US intelligence analyst identified the Minab site as an elementary school rather than an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval facility in 2019, but the updated assessment never reached military commanders because it was entered into a digital intelligence tool that was not linked to the Pentagon’s official targeting database.
US President Donald Trump said last month that the actual culprit behind the strike in Minab may never be established.
“There were missiles flying all over the place, and it’s horrible what happened… somebody said it was our missile, maybe it wasn’t our missile but I have seen nothing to lead me to believe it was,” Trump said.
Iranian officials have described the attack as a war crime and crime against humanity and demanded accountability.
