The United States military confirmed Friday that it has significantly upgraded its investigation into a catastrophic February 28 strike on a girls' school in southern Iran, after reports emerged that internal findings suggest American forces were most likely responsible. The school, located in Minab in Hormozgan province, was reportedly struck by a precision-guided Tomahawk cruise missile — a weapon that military analysts say almost exclusively belongs to the U.S. arsenal.

Iran has stated that 168 children died in the attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh School, making it potentially one of the deadliest single incidents of civilian harm in decades of American military operations across the Middle East. The scale of the potential tragedy has prompted growing calls for transparency and accountability, both within the Pentagon and in international forums.

A More Independent Inquiry

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the investigation has been elevated to a command-level administrative review — formally called a 15-6 investigation — and that it will now be conducted by a general officer with no connection to U.S. Central Command, the combatant command overseeing operations against Iran. The appointment of an outside officer is a deliberate move meant to insulate the investigation from any organizational bias, a step the military typically reserves for its most sensitive internal cases.

"The command investigation will take as long as necessary to address all the matters surrounding this incident," Hegseth told reporters at a Pentagon press conference Friday, declining to speak to any preliminary conclusions reached by investigators.

Three U.S. officials, speaking anonymously to describe confidential internal procedures, confirmed to reporters that the 15-6 format can serve as the legal foundation for any disciplinary action that may follow. Unlike a preliminary review, a 15-6 investigation requires sworn statements and formal interviews from personnel involved in the mission, giving its conclusions significant legal weight. The head of U.S. Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, ordered the elevated probe after an initial review was completed, and an outside officer was formally appointed Thursday.

How the Strike May Have Happened

Investigators believe U.S. forces may have relied on outdated targeting intelligence that failed to account for the presence of the school directly adjacent to an Iranian military installation in Minab. Video analysis and satellite imagery reviewed by multiple experts indicate the building struck was hit by a Tomahawk cruise missile. The school, which Iran says had been in continuous operation since at least 2018, was separated from the military compound by a perimeter wall clearly visible in satellite photos dating to 2015.

Trump's Shifting Stance

The investigation unfolds against a complicated political backdrop. President Donald Trump initially suggested, without providing evidence, that Iran itself may have attacked its own school, and even floated the possibility that Tehran could have obtained Tomahawk missiles — a claim dismissed by military experts as implausible given the weapon's export restrictions and highly classified guidance systems.

By Monday, however, Trump had publicly committed to accepting whatever conclusions the investigation produces. A senior administration official suggested that the public nature of the probe now makes it politically difficult for the White House to reject its findings — a dynamic that appears to have accelerated the decision to elevate the investigation's independence and rigor. Iran's newly installed supreme leader addressed the attack in his first public statement Thursday, blaming the country's enemies without directly naming the United States. The investigation's outcome is expected to carry profound diplomatic consequences for U.S. relations across the broader Middle East.