Trump administration faces silence over Iran school strike that killed children

A missile struck a girls’ elementary school in Minab, Iran, killing children and school staff on the opening day of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, and more than 120 days later the Trump administration still had not publicly explained who authorized the attack or what officials knew when the school was hit.

Amnesty International said its investigation found that Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Hormozgan province was directly struck on Feb. 28, 2026, and that 156 people were killed, including 120 children. Other accounts, including statements by lawmakers, put the death toll at at least 168, with most of the dead children.

The Pentagon had not directly accepted blame or formally released its findings. A U.S. official said military evidence showed almost immediately that the school site had been struck, yet Washington still had not produced a final public accounting of what happened.

Pressure mounted in the Senate. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse sent a letter to the Department of Defense demanding answers by March 18, 2026, asking whether U.S. forces conducted the strike and pressing officials to explain the civilian deaths and disclose the findings. More than 40 Senate colleagues later joined that effort, including Jeanne Shaheen, as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee pushed for answers on the airstrikes that hit a girls’ elementary school in Minab.

Amnesty International said the attack violated international humanitarian law because the United States failed to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm. Human Rights Watch said the strike should be investigated as a war crime and used the case to underscore the need for reform and accountability inside the U.S. military. With no public release from the Pentagon, the central questions remain who approved the strike, what officials knew when the school was hit, and whether any consequence will follow the deaths of so many children.