US appoints independent officer to investigate strike on Iranian school

The United States has assigned a senior officer outside of United States Central Command (CENTCOM) to conduct an investigation into a strike that hit a girls’ school in Minab, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, Reuters reports.

The school in southern Iran was struck on the first day of US and Israeli attacks on the country. Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, said the strike killed 150 students.

Hegseth said the investigation would be conducted by an officer from outside CENTCOM to ensure impartiality.

“The command investigation will take as long as necessary to address all the matters surrounding this incident. And the investigating officer is from outside CENTCOM and is a general officer,” he told journalists.

Last week, Reuters reported that an internal US military investigation suggested American forces were likely responsible for the strike on the girls’ school.

Despite the allegations, Hegseth emphasized that US forces do not intentionally target civilians.

“There's only one entity in this conflict, between us and Iran that never targets civilians, literally never targets civilians,” he said.

“We don't target. Iran does. We will investigate. We'll get to the truth and we'll share it when we have it,” he added.

By Vafa Guliyeva