U.S. Probe of Minab School Strike Remains Incomplete After 13,660 Iran Targets
Updated
Updated · Sites@Duke Express · Jun 14
U.S. Probe of Minab School Strike Remains Incomplete After 13,660 Iran Targets
3 articles · Updated · Sites@Duke Express · Jun 14
Summary
Admiral Brad Cooper told Congress in mid-May that the investigation into the Minab strike is still unfinished and "complex," months after a U.S. attack allegedly hit Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School and killed scores of civilians.
The Pentagon said in March that an officer outside U.S. Central Command is leading the inquiry, underscoring the sensitivity of a case involving a school located on an active IRGC cruise-missile base.
Key factual disputes remain unresolved, including whether the site was exclusively a girls' school and whether most victims were girls; Amnesty said boys and girls attended on separate floors, while another report said most student deaths were boys.
Investigators are also weighing whether the building's past use as an IRGC command headquarters, possible military activity around the site, or Iran's placement of children on a military base could have contributed to target misidentification and legal responsibility.
The report argues that war-crime claims are premature until investigators determine what U.S. forces reasonably knew at the time, noting the law of war turns on intent, good faith and feasible precautions rather than civilian casualties alone.