The United States was “probably” responsible for the attack against girls

The United States may be responsible for the bombing of a girls’ school in Iran that killed 168 people, many of them children, on February 28, sources told News themezone.

The preliminary U.S. assessment suggests the United States is “probably” responsible for the deadly attack, but did not intentionally target the school and may have attacked it by mistake, possibly due to the use of dated intelligence that misidentified the area as still part of an Iranian military installation, a person briefed on the preliminary intelligence told News themezone.

The Israeli military was also not operating in the area, two sources told News themezone.

An additional source familiar with the ongoing investigation told News themezone that investigators believe the U.S. military may have been responsible because it was operating in the area while the Israeli military was not, although no final conclusions have been reached.

And an Israeli government source told News themezone that Israel was not behind the attack and that its military was not operating near the school.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told News themezone in a statement that “the investigation is ongoing” and that “there are no conclusions at this time, and it is irresponsible and false for anyone to claim otherwise.”

News themezone has confirmed that the school building was located in close proximity to two sites controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Minab, a city in Hormozgan province in southern Iran.

Footage filmed from a parking lot showed black smoke billowing from a damaged building adorned with crayon-drawn murals, children and an apple. The News themezone Confirmed team geolocated the video to a building in Minab. Iranian media identified the building as Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School.

Iranian state media said at least 168 people, including girls between the ages of 7 and 12, were killed in the attack that took place last Saturday, in the first day of the war. Saturdays are normal school days in Iran.

A list published in Iranian state media by authorities in Iran’s Minab County claimed to show the names of 57 of those killed. Human Rights Watch has said that at least 48 of those names appear to be children, based on their birth dates listed, along with the school principal and teachers.

Without providing evidence, President Trump said Saturday that the United States believes the bombing “was carried out by Iran” and cited information he had seen.

“We believe it was done by Iran, because they are very imprecise with their munitions, they are not accurate at all, it was done by Iran,” Trump said aboard Air Force One after attending the dignified transfer of six American soldiers who were killed in an Iranian attack in Kuwait on March 1.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and U.S. Central Command said an investigation was underway and did not echo the president’s claims.

Questioned about the incident in a News themezone “60 Minutes” In an interview that aired Sunday, Hegseth said that “unlike our adversaries, the Iranians, we never attack civilians” and “it’s being investigated, which is the only answer I’m willing to give.”

The New York Times and Reuters were the first to report that the United States could be behind the fatal attack.