Minab massacre: US probe finds American forces killed 170 Iranian schoolgirls

American warplanes appear to have deliberately bombed an elementary school filled with children on the first day of strikes against Iran, US military investigators say, killing at least 170 students and staff in what survivors are calling a calculated act of terror.

They now believe American forces were "likely" responsible for the attack on Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Hormozgan province, according Reuters which cited American officials.

The strike occurred on February 28, the opening day of the coordinated US-Israeli aggression against Iran, and stands as the deadliest known episode of civilian casualties since the unprovoked act of terror began.

The New York Times said a mounting body of evidence assembled by the newspaper, including newly released satellite imagery and verified videos, indicates the school building was severely damaged by a precision strike.

Official statements that US forces were attacking naval targets near the Strait of Hormuz suggest American warplanes were most likely to have carried out the strike, it said.

Satellite images obtained from Planet Labs show the extent of the devastation. Multiple precision strikes hit at least six buildings along with the school, the Times said.

Four buildings inside a naval base were completely destroyed, and two other buildings showed impact points at the center of their roofs, consistent with American guided munitions.

Wes J. Bryant, a national security analyst and former US Air Force senior adviser on civilian harm at the Pentagon, reviewed the satellite imagery and concluded that all of the buildings, including the school, had been hit with "picture perfect" precision strikes, it said.

The elementary school is located in the small southern town of Minab. Because Saturday marks the start of the Iranian workweek, children and teachers were in class at the time of the strike.

The attack left more than 170 schoolchildren and staff dead, many of them pulled from rubble as rescue workers raced against time.

According to the newspaper, publicly available historical satellite imagery demonstrates the structure bears the hallmarks of a school, including a sports field and other recreational areas added over time.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has declared the attack on the school was deliberate, designed specifically to distract Iranian armed forces with desperate search and rescue efforts.

He said the children who died were "little angels" who were "brutally massacred" to allow aggressors to attack military targets with greater ease and impunity.

Beth Van Schaack, a former State Department official who teaches at Stanford University's Center for Human Rights and International Justice, said American intelligence capabilities should have ensured the military knew a school was in the vicinity.

At a White House news conference, press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked if the United States had conducted the airstrike on the school.

She responded, "Not that we know of," adding that the Department of War is investigating. Far-right war secretary Pete Hegseth also confirmed an investigation is underway.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine said US forces were carrying out strikes along southern Iran and identified several US military operations targeting the southern and southeastern areas of the country.

Theories circulating online suggesting a misfired Iranian missile was responsible have been debunked by The Times and other analysts, who determined that a single errant missile could not have caused such precise and targeted damage to several buildings across the naval base.

Iran's ambassador to the UN in Geneva has called for immediate international action to stop the brutal strikes on Iranian schools. The UN human rights office called for an investigation, with spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani saying the onus is on the forces that carried out the attack to investigate it.

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