Mohammad Sıo
05 March 2026•Update: 06 March 2026
ISTANBUL
The US said that it is “investigating” an airstrike on a girls’ primary school in southern Iran that Iranian authorities say killed 168 students, while Israel denied involvement in the attack.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Wednesday that Washington is “investigating” the incident.
“All I can say is we’re investigating that,” Hegseth said when asked about the bombing of the Shajareh Tayyebeh Girls’ School in the city of Minab.
The US military “never targets civilian sites,” he added.
Israel denies involvement
Israel, meanwhile, denied involvement in the deadly strike.
Military spokesperson Nadav Shoshani told US public broadcaster NPR on Monday that the Israeli army was not aware of any operation in the area.
“We are not aware at the moment of any IDF (army) operation in that area,” Shoshani said. “I don't know who's responsible for the bombing.”
Iranian officials say the school was hit on Saturday, the first day of joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
Minab Governor Mohammad Radmehr said the strike directly hit the school while classes were underway, killing girls aged between 7 and 12. The building was largely destroyed, and parts of its concrete roof collapsed onto classrooms.
Iranian officials said that 168 people were killed and at least 95 injured in the attack.
Iran has accused the US and Israel of carrying out the strike, while the Israeli military said it was not aware of any Israeli or US attack in the area.
Israel has previously denied involvement in deadly strikes during the recent war in Gaza before later revising its accounts after further evidence emerged.
