Rabia Iclal Turan
10 March 2026•Update: 10 March 2026
WASHINGTON
A group of senior Democratic senators pressed the Pentagon on Monday to provide “clear answers” and conduct an “impartial” probe as it investigates a strike on a girls’ school in Iran that reportedly killed at least 175 people, most of them children, during US-Israeli airstrikes against Iran.
Senators Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Patty Murray of Washington state, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Mark Warner of Virginia and Chris Coons of Delaware said they were “horrified” by reports about the Feb. 28 strike on an elementary school in the southern Iranian town of Minab.
“The killing of school children is appalling and unacceptable under any circumstance,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement.
“American servicemembers are governed by strict regulations that are intended to promote the utmost professionalism, so this incident and any like it must be fully and impartially reviewed,” the statement added.
They also raised concerns about comments by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who previously said US strikes in Iran would not be bound by what he called “stupid rules of engagement.“
“Secretary Hegseth needs to ensure the Department of Defense’s ongoing investigation into this strike is thorough, including whether any policy decisions may have contributed to the catastrophe, and provide clear answers to the American public and Congress about how and why this tragedy unfolded,” said the lawmakers.
Independent analyses by several media outlets and investigative groups have suggested the strike may have been carried out by US forces.
An investigation by the New York Times based on satellite imagery, verified videos and social media posts found the school was severely damaged by a precision strike that occurred around the same time as attacks on an adjacent naval base of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The report said the missile seen in the footage was a Tomahawk, a weapon used in the conflict only by the US military.
President Donald Trump has denied US responsibility and suggested that Iran was to blame. The Pentagon has said it is reviewing the incident.
Hegseth said the department was examining the strike but rejected allegations that US forces deliberately targeted civilians.
