Truthout is an indispensable resource for activists, movement leaders and workers everywhere. Please make this work possible with a quick donation.
A House lawmaker and UN experts are calling for an “immediate” investigation into the strike on an elementary school in Minab, Iran, that massacred 175 people, mostly children, as a growing body of evidence suggests that U.S. forces were responsible for the strike.
“There needs to be an immediate and transparent investigation into this strike. I’m demanding answers on what is being done to protect innocent civilians in Iran,” said Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Arizona) in a post on X on Thursday.
A group of seven UN human rights experts also signed a statement on Friday saying that the strike must be investigated as a war crime.
“A strike on a school represents a grave assault on children, on education, and on the future of an entire community,” the experts said. “An attack on a functioning school during class hours raises the most serious concerns under international law and must be urgently, independently, and effectively investigated, with accountability for any violations.”
Iranian health officials and state media have reported that 175 people were killed in the strike on the school on February 28, as the U.S. and Israel unleashed their first bombardment of their war on Iran. The vast majority of them were children aged between 7 and 12, UN officials have said. One of the victims was reportedly a 2-month-old baby.
No one has taken responsibility for the strike. U.S. officials have said that they are investigating the strike, and have neither confirmed nor denied responsibility. “We’re investigating that. We, of course, never target civilian targets. But we’re taking a look and investigating that,” said Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
However, there is mounting evidence that the U.S. was responsible for the attack. U.S. military investigators believe that U.S. forces carried out the strike, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing two officials familiar.
Investigations and analyses by CNN, the New York Times, and NPR have said that imagery, timing, and location of the strike suggest that it was done by U.S. forces. The strike was done at the same time as “precision strikes” on adjacent Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps buildings, though the school has been clearly cordoned off as a civilian site for at least a decade.
The reporting that the school was hit in “precision strikes,” and reporting by Al Jazeera, suggest that the school was struck intentionally. Middle East Eye also reports that whoever is responsible carried out a “double-tap” strike on the school, hitting it a second time to kill those who rushed to rescue survivors.
“My little girl was completely burned,” one man who lost his child in the attack told Middle East Eye. He says his daughter survived the first strike, but was killed when she was moved to the prayer hall for protection. “There was nothing left of her. We could only identify her from her school bag, which she was still holding. She was completely burned.”
“When I saw her smile after coming home from work, all my pain disappeared. Now I don’t know what to do with this pain. I don’t know how to live with this,” he said.
The attack echoes some of the worst atrocities carried out by the U.S. military in history. In March of 1968, American soldiers gunned down the village of My Lai, Vietnam, killing between 350 to 500 unarmed civilians, including children. Only one U.S. soldier was ever convicted for the horrific massacre, known as one of the worst war crimes ever committed by the U.S. military.
U.S. officials have insisted that the U.S. does not target civilian infrastructure. However, UNICEF reported on Thursday that at least 20 schools have been damaged in Iran amid the U.S. and Israel’s carpet bombing campaign, while the World Health Organization has reported that at least 13 hospitals and health facilities have been hit in the first week of the bombardment.
Important Message: Please Read
For 25 years, Truthout has survived by publishing impactful investigative journalism and analysis; distributing full editions 365 days a year; and building a community of readers who support us with small, hard-earned donations.
Eighty percent of our $3 million yearly budget comes from small donors alone. Of those, 8,000 readers support us with monthly donations. Back in 2018, when Facebook decided to suppress the circulation of posts made by organizations, thereby cutting readers off from seeing many articles shared by the news organizations they had intentionally decided to follow, Truthout’s total traffic declined by 40 percent, as nearly all of our traffic from that platform disappeared.
Now, Google has recently rolled out its AI search bar, providing AI summaries instead of directing readers to our site. Google Search is our single largest source of traffic; it’s the route by which nearly one third of our readers find us. Much like in 2018, a shocking 40 percent of our Google traffic has disappeared overnight.
It will not be easy for Truthout to shoulder this blow. Nor will it be easy for our peers and collaborators — news sites that depend on traffic and aren’t bankrolled by large corporations.
If you can support Truthout with a donation today, you can help us resist the AI onslaught. Please give today.