Source: Amnesty International –
- In-depth investigation finds US violated international humanitarian law by failing to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm
- US responsible for deadly attack on school packed full of children killing 168 people
- US authorities must ensure that the investigation is transparent, thorough, and that the results are made public.
Those responsible for planning and executing an unlawful US strike on a school in Minab, Hormozgan province in Iran that killed 168 people, including over 100 children, must be held accountable, Amnesty International said today.
Evidence gathered by the organization indicates that the school building was directly struck, alongside 12 other structures in an adjacent Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) compound, with guided weapons. This points to a failure by US forces to take feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm in carrying out the attack, which is a serious breach of international humanitarian law. The fact that the school building was directly targeted and was previously part of the IRGC compound raises concerns that US forces may have relied on outdated intelligence and failed in their obligation to do everything feasible to verify that the intended target was a military objective.
“This harrowing attack on a school, with classrooms full of children, is a sickening illustration of the catastrophic and entirely predictable price civilians are paying during this armed conflict. Schools must be places of safety and learning for children. Instead, this school in Minab became a site of mass killing. The US authorities could, and should, have known it was a school building. Targeting a protected civilian object, such as a school, is strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s Senior Director of Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns.
This harrowing attack on a school, with classrooms full of children, is a sickening illustration of the catastrophic and entirely predictable price civilians are paying during this armed conflict.
Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International
US authorities must ensure that the investigation they have announced is impartial, independent and transparent. Investigations into the strike must consider the intelligence gathering and assessments, targeting decisions and precautions taken, as well as how artificial intelligence may have been employed in each of these steps, to evaluate how targeting decisions were made. The results of the investigation should be made public.
Where sufficient evidence exists, competent authorities should prosecute any person suspected of criminal responsibility. Victims and their families have the right to truth and justice and should receive full reparation, including restitution, rehabilitation and compensation for civilian harm.
“If the attackers failed to identify the building as a school and nevertheless proceeded with the attack, this would indicate gross negligence in the planning of the attack and would point to a shameful intelligence failure on the part of the US military and a serious violation of international humanitarian law. On the other hand, if the US was aware that the school was adjacent to the IRGC compound and proceeded to attack without taking all feasible precautions, such as striking at night when the school would have been empty, or giving effective advance warning to civilians likely to be affected, this would amount to recklessly launching an indiscriminate attack which killed and injured civilians and must be investigated as a war crime,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas.
“For their part, Iranian authorities must immediately remove, to the extent feasible, civilians from the vicinity of military objectives and allow independent monitors into the country. They must also restore internet access to ensure that the 92 million people in Iran have access to life-saving information and be able to contact their loved ones.”
Video footage, satellite imagery, and interviews with three independent sources with direct information about the situation in Minab indicate that an air strike hit Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School on the morning of 28 February 2026, killing and injuring civilians, including children, parents, and teachers, and causing extensive damage and destruction. Both girls and boys attended the school and were taught on separate floors.
Amnesty International’s analysis of audiovisual evidence of missile strikes on the adjacent IRGC compound and of missile remnants published by state media in Iran indicate that a US-manufactured Tomahawk missile was likely used for the attack. Tomahawk missiles are used exclusively by US forces in this conflict and are precision-guided missiles.
The school was individually struck as part of an attack on 12 other structures in the adjacent IRGC compound raising serious concerns that it may have been targeted based on outdated intelligence. The New York Times reported on 11 March 2026 that a preliminary investigation by the US military has found that the strike on the school was the result of reliance on outdated data.
Any current or future use of artificial intelligence magnify the risk of such failures. Also on 11 March 2026, US Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Brad Cooper confirmed that the USA was using advanced artificial intelligence tools to process large amounts of data related to the operations.
The USA’s apparent reliance on outdated intelligence, which failed to reflect the long-standing status of Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School as a civilian object, would constitute a serious violation of the principle of precaution, particularly the obligation to do everything feasible to verify that an intended target is a military objective. In the aftermath of the attack, media and other organizations were able to promptly verify that the building hosting the school had been separated from the rest of the compound since at least 2016. This indicates that parties to the conflict, with much more advanced intelligence-gathering capabilities and technologies, were undoubtedly in a position to collect and verify this same information, which should have led to the decision not to attack the school.
In the aftermath of the attack, Iranian authorities have exploited the suffering of victims’ families and surviving children for propaganda purposes.