- US attack on Iranian school caused by targeting error: NYT report.
- Outdated data led to US attack on Iranian school: NYT.
- Iran says more than 150 people were killed in a missile attack on Minab school.
The United States was responsible for the Tomahawk missile attack on an Iranian primary school due to a targeting error. The New York Times reported on Wednesday.
The newspaper, citing U.S. officials, said the investigation into the Feb. 28 attack was ongoing but that preliminary findings indicated the United States was responsible.
The US military was carrying out attacks on an adjacent Iranian base of which the school building was formerly a part and the target's coordinates were established using outdated data, he said.
President Donald Trump suggested earlier this week that Iran itself might have been responsible, but later said he could “live with” what the investigation reveals.
Asked by journalists about the Times In Wednesday's briefing, Trump said, “I don't know anything about that.”
Iran has said the attack on the primary school in the southern city of Minab killed more than 150 people.
The times said U.S. Central Command officials created target coordinates for the attack using outdated data provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency.
He said investigators were still looking into why outdated information was used in planning the attack and who was unable to verify the data.
The newspaper said the school is on the same block as buildings used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps navy and that the school site was originally part of the base.
He said the building that houses the school had been fenced off from the base between 2013 and 2016.
AFP has not been able to access the site of the attack to independently verify the circumstances surrounding it or the number of victims reported by Iranian media.
President Masoud Pezeshkian blamed the United States and Israel for the attack.
Israel has consistently denied any involvement in or knowledge of the attack and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last said the US would not intentionally attack a school.
