President Donald Trump said Wednesday that it may never be possible to determine who was responsible for a deadly strike on a girls’ school in Iran during the opening hours of the Iran war, casting doubt on efforts to establish accountability for an attack that killed scores of children and teachers.
The strike, which hit a school in the southern Iranian city of Minab on Feb. 28, occurred on the first day of a conflict that began when the United States and Israel launched military operations against Iran. Iranian authorities have said more than 175 children and educators were killed in the attack, making it one of the deadliest single incidents of the war.
Speaking to reporters, Trump suggested that the chaotic conditions surrounding the outbreak of hostilities could make it impossible to conclusively identify who launched the missile that struck the school.
“I don’t know that they are ever going to solve that problem,” Trump said.
“I don’t know that they are ever going to solve that problem in terms of whose fault was it because there were missiles flying all over the place, and it’s horrible what happened but there were missiles flying all over the place,” he added.
The comments marked Trump’s latest response to questions surrounding responsibility for the strike, which has become one of the most controversial incidents of the conflict.
Reuters reported in March that an initial internal U.S. military investigation found American forces were likely responsible for the attack. According to sources familiar with the inquiry, preliminary findings pointed toward the possibility that U.S. targeting data used during the opening phase of the war may have been outdated, contributing to the fatal strike.
The Pentagon subsequently elevated the investigation to a higher-level review but has not publicly confirmed any preliminary conclusions.
Trump dismissed suggestions that evidence currently available points to U.S. responsibility.
“Somebody said it was our missile, maybe it wasn’t our missile but I have seen nothing to lead me to believe it was,” Trump said. “I don’t think it was us.”
The strike triggered widespread international condemnation after images and reports from the scene emerged. Human rights organizations, foreign governments and United Nations officials called for a transparent investigation into the incident.
The U.N. human rights office described the attack as “absolutely horrific,” citing the large number of child casualties.
Under international humanitarian law, intentionally targeting a school would likely constitute a war crime. U.S. officials have repeatedly emphasized that American forces do not deliberately target educational facilities and have maintained that any attack on the school, if linked to U.S. military operations, would have been accidental rather than intentional.
The incident has remained politically sensitive for the Trump administration because it occurred during the first hours of a military campaign that later expanded into a broader regional conflict involving missile exchanges, air strikes and attacks on critical infrastructure across the Middle East.
In the immediate aftermath of the strike, Trump asserted without presenting evidence that Iran was responsible. As investigations continued, however, the president adopted a more cautious position, acknowledging that he did not possess enough information to determine who carried out the attack.
Since then, Trump has repeatedly stated that an investigation remains underway and has indicated he would accept its conclusions once the review is completed.
He has also argued that no party intentionally targeted the school.
The Pentagon has released few details regarding the status of the investigation, and officials have declined to discuss specific evidence being examined. Defense officials have previously said the inquiry is intended to establish the sequence of events leading to the strike, assess whether targeting procedures were properly followed and determine whether any operational failures contributed to the tragedy.
The attack on the Minab school remains one of the defining humanitarian controversies of the Iran war. Families of victims, human rights advocates and international observers have continued to call for accountability and transparency as investigators seek to establish what happened during the chaotic opening day of the conflict.
Whether the inquiry ultimately produces a definitive conclusion remains uncertain. Trump’s comments underscore the possibility that competing claims, conflicting battlefield information and the complexity of military operations during the opening stages of the war could leave questions about responsibility unresolved even after the investigation is completed.
For now, the strike remains under review, while the families of more than 175 children and teachers killed in the attack continue to await answers about one of the deadliest episodes of the conflict.
