An investigation by Amnesty International has concluded that a deadly strike on a school in southern Iran last month may have violated international humanitarian law, adding to mounting scrutiny of one of the war’s deadliest incidents.
The rights group said the February 28 attack on a girls’ elementary school in Minab killed scores of civilians, including many children, and raised concerns that US forces failed to take adequate precautions to avoid civilian harm.
“This harrowing attack on a school… is a sickening illustration of the catastrophic… price civilians are paying,” a senior Amnesty official said, adding that the strike appeared to be “strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law.”
The attack took place on the first day of the US-Israeli campaign against Iran, when a missile struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in the southern city of Minab. The blast destroyed much of the building and killed scores inside, in what has become the deadliest single civilian incident of the war.
Amnesty called for an independent and transparent investigation into the strike.
Analyses by multiple media organizations, including the The New York Times, have pointed to evidence suggesting the strike was likely carried out by US forces, though a final determination has not been publicly confirmed.
US officials have said they are investigating the incident. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the military was reviewing the strike and insisted that “we… never target civilian targets.”
President Donald Trump has denied that the United States was responsible, suggesting instead that Iran may have been behind the attack.
A report by Reuters cited officials as saying the United States was examining the circumstances of the strike as part of a broader review of civilian harm during the campaign, amid growing international pressure for accountability.
Human rights groups and United Nations officials have warned that the attack underscores the widening civilian toll of the conflict and have called for a prompt, impartial investigation into whether the laws of war were violated.
