Outdated targeting data might have led to a U.S. Tomahawk missile striking an elementary school adjacent to an Iranian military base during the initial phase of Operation Epic Fury, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
An ongoing military investigation blamed the Feb. 28 strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school on a targeting mistake, the Times reported, citing U.S. officials and others familiar with the preliminary findings. The building housing the school was once part of an adjacent Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval base but had been converted to a civilian elementary school years earlier.
Officers at U.S. Central Command created the target coordinates for the strike using outdated data provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency, people briefed on the investigation told the Times.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday outside the White House, President Donald Trump was asked about the Times' report.
"I don't know about that," he said.
The elementary school is in the small town of Minab, more than 600 miles from Tehran and near the Strait of Hormuz. Because Saturday is the start of the work week in Iran, children and teachers were in class at the time of the strike, the Times reported. Iranian officials have said the death toll was at least 175, most of them children.
Investigators do not yet fully understand how the outdated data was sent to CENTCOM or whether the DIA had updated information.
Military targeting is complex and involves multiple agencies. Many officers are responsible for verifying the data's accuracy. Officers at CENTCOM must also check information they receive from the DIA or other intelligence agencies, according to the Times. But in a fast-moving situation, such as the opening days of a conflict, information is sometimes not fully verified.
In addition to the DIA and CENTCOM, investigators are examining the work of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which provides and analyzes satellite imagery of potential targets, the Times reported.
Officials emphasized the findings are preliminary and there are important unanswered questions about why the outdated information had not been double-checked.
"As The New York Times acknowledges in its own reporting, the investigation is still ongoing," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to the Times.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and other administration officials have declined to comment on the strike, other than to say it is under investigation.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said Tuesday the U.S. "made a mistake" and that the strike on the school wasn't intentional.
"It was terrible. We made a mistake," Kennedy told reporters. "Other countries do that sort of thing intentionally, like Russia.
"We would never do that intentionally. I think the department is investigating it now, and I'm sorry. I'm just so sorry it happened. It was a mistake."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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