The attack that killed more than 170 people, mostly children, in an elementary school in southern Iran has prompted anger and calls for an investigation in the United States.
But President Donald Trump has been giving contradicting answers about the incident over the past week. In early instances, he blamed Iran for the bombing. More recently, he has claimed that he does not know the details of the strike.
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The New York Times reported on Wednesday that a preliminary Department of Defense investigation into the bombing found that the US military was behind the strike.
Asked whether he takes responsibility for the attack after the Times report, Trump once again said, “I don’t know about it.”
Days earlier, Trump had insisted that Iran bombed its own school in the southern city of Minab.
“Based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran,” Trump said on Saturday. “We think it was done by Iran – because they are very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions. They have no accuracy whatsoever. It was done by Iran.”
Pete Hegseth, the US president’s defence secretary, was standing behind him at that time. He declined to endorse Trump’s assessment and instead reiterated that the Pentagon is investigating the incident.
The February 28 attack has become emblematic of the civilian toll of the US-Israeli war on Iran. The assault has killed at least 1,300 people, according to Iranian officials.
After new footage of the attack emerged, several media outlets and independent investigations concluded that the strike was carried out with a Tomahawk missile, a US weapon that neither Iran nor Israel owns.
Trump told reporters on Monday that Iran “also has some Tomahawks” — a claim that was widely dismissed by military experts.
“They wish they had more. But whether it’s Iran or somebody else, the fact that a Tomahawk — a Tomahawk is very generic. It’s sold to other countries,” he said.
While the US has sold Tomahawk missiles to some close allies, Iran has been under heavy sanctions by Washington and cannot purchase weapons from the US.
When pressed further about why members of his own administration have not echoed his accusation that Iran carried out the attack, Trump said earlier this week, “Because I just don’t know enough about it.”
The US president went on to stress that “numerous countries” have Tomahawk missiles before saying that he would accept the results of the investigation into the bombing.
“I will certainly. Whatever the report shows, I’m willing to live with,” Trump said.
The US military has confirmed that it used Tomahawk missiles in the opening strikes against Iran on February 28.
And a Pentagon map of the initial attacks on Iran last week showed strikes on Minab.
Republican Senator John Kennedy, a Trump ally, said on Tuesday that the US was behind the strike but stressed that the attack was not intentional.
“We’re investigating, but I’m not going to hide behind that. I think that it was a terrible, terrible mistake,” Kennedy told CNN. “The investigation may prove me wrong, I hope so. The kids are still dead.”
He added that he was “sorry it happened”.
Kennedy did not provide details about the source of his assessment.
On Wednesday, nearly all the Senate’s Democrats sent a letter to Hegseth demanding answers about the Minab attack.
They sought details about how civilian harm mitigation measures are being applied and the role of artificial intelligence in selecting targets.
“To be clear, the war against Iran is a war of choice without Congressional authorization. Nonetheless, as these military actions continue, the United States and Israel must abide by US and international law, including the law of armed conflict,” the letter read.
