The United States was “almost” responsible for the bombing of a girls’ school in Iran, according to an early US assessment

The US may be responsible for the bombing a school for girls in Iran that killed 168 people, mostly children, on February 28, sources told CBS News.

A preliminary US assessment suggests that the United States “may” have been responsible for the deadly attack but did not target the school intentionally and may have hit it accidentally, perhaps due to the use of long-term intelligence that incorrectly identified the site as part of an Iranian military installation, a person briefed on the initial intelligence told CBS News.

Israeli forces were also not active in the area, two sources told CBS News.

An additional source familiar with the ongoing investigation told CBS News that investigators believe the US military may have been involved because they were operating in the area while the Israeli military was not, although a final conclusion has not been reached.

And an Israeli government source told CBS News that Israel was not the target of the attack and that its forces were not operating near the school.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told CBS News in a statement that “the investigation is ongoing”, and “There are no conclusions yet, and it is irresponsible and false for anyone to claim otherwise.”

CBS News has confirmed that the school building is near two areas controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Minab, a city in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan.

Pictures taken from the parking lot showed black smoke billowing from the damaged building decorated with graffiti depicting crayon drawings, children and an apple. The CBS News Confirmed team shared the video from the building in Minab. Iranian media identified the building as Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School.

Iranian media said at least 168 people, including schoolgirls aged 7 to 12, were killed in the strike last Saturday. the first day of the war. Saturdays are normal school days in Iran.

A list published in Iranian state media from the Iranian authorities in the Minab region claims to reveal 57 names of those killed. Human Rights Watch said at least 48 of those names appear to be children, according to their birthdays listed, along with their principals and teachers.

Without providing evidence, President Trump said on Saturday that the US believed the bombing was “done by Iran” and cited information he had seen.

“We think it’s done by Iran, because they’re not very accurate with their weapons, they’re not accurate, they’re done by Iran,” said Mr. Trump boards Air Force One after attending the funeral of six US soldiers killed in an Iranian strike in Kuwait on March 1.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and US Central Command both said the investigation was ongoing and disagreed with the president’s claims.

Asked about the incident in a CBS News “60 Minutes” in an interview broadcast on Sunday, Hegseth said “unlike our enemies, the Iranians, we never target civilians”, and “it’s being investigated, that’s the only answer I’m willing to give.”

The New York Times and Reuters began to report that the US may be behind the bombing.