Faulty US targeting intel was to blame for strike on Iran girls school that killed 175: report

Faulty US targeting intelligence is to blame for a tragic missile strike on an Iranian elementary school, a preliminary military investigation found Wednesday.

Iranian reports say that at least 175 people were killed, most of them children, following Feb. 28’s Tomahawk missile strike on the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school building in Minab, southeastern Iran.

A US military investigation has found that the strike was the result of a targeting mistake by the US, based on outdated data provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency, US officials told the New York Times.

The strike, on the opening day of the recent joint US-Israeli bombardment of Iran, was targeting an adjacent Iranian base.

The school building was previously a part of the military compound, the preliminary investigation has found.

Satellite images show the building housing the school was fenced off from the military base sometime between 2013 and 2016.

Watchtowers that once stood near the building were removed, and play areas, including a sports field, were painted on asphalt, satellite imagery shows.