The top US military commander in the Middle East avoided taking responsibility on Tuesday for an attack on a school in Iran that killed 155 people on the first day of the war, insisting a “complex” investigation was ongoing.
Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), told a congressional oversight panel that “the school itself is on an IRGC cruise missile base”, making the investigation “much more difficult than an average strike”. IRGC stands for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The attack killed 73 boys, 47 girls, 26 teachers, seven parents, a school bus driver, and another adult in the southern city of Minab on February 28, according to Iranian state media. The United States has repeatedly avoided taking responsibility for the tragedy.
Cooper was responding to questions from House Armed Services Committee Member Adam Smith, a Democrat, who said that, “in the past, when we’ve had these types of mistakes, they’ve been quickly acknowledged, even if further investigation is necessary”.
Cooper promised to share the results of the investigation when it is completed. Smith responded by saying: “So that’s a ‘no’. We’re not going to take responsibility for what we obviously did.”
The New York Times previously reported that the school was hit by a US Tomahawk cruise missile, a weapon that Iran does not possess. CNN has also reported that the United States was responsible for the attack.
