{"id":843,"date":"2026-05-20T12:41:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T12:41:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/2026\/05\/20\/pentagon-accused-of-endless-stalling-over-iran-school-bombing\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T12:41:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T12:41:44","slug":"pentagon-accused-of-endless-stalling-over-iran-school-bombing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/?p=843","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon accused of \u2018endless stalling\u2019 over Iran school bombing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Top lawmaker Adam Smith has pressed US Central Command chief Brad Cooper to acknowledge what he called \u201cobvious\u201d US culpability<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Pentagon has once again refused to admit responsibility for a strike<\/a>\u00a0on an Iranian school that killed more than 170 people, most of them children, despite pressure from US lawmakers.<\/p>\n

The Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school in southern Iran was hit on February 28, the first day of the US-Israeli bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic. According to Iranian officials, 175 people were killed, most of them children.<\/p>\n

US officials initially offered conflicting explanations<\/a>, with President Donald Trump even suggesting<\/a>\u00a0the strike was \u201cdone by Iran.\u201d<\/em> Investigations by media outlets and analysts later concluded that the school was likely hit by a US-made missile<\/a>.<\/p>\n

An internal military probe<\/a>\u00a0reportedly found US forces likely used \u201coutdated targeting data\u201d<\/em> that misidentified the school as part of a nearby Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps naval base. The Pentagon later elevated the investigation but has since only said that it is ongoing.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"A
New disturbing footage of US strike on Iranian school released (VIDEO)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

At a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, lawmakers pressed Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command, to acknowledge US responsibility and disclose the preliminary findings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been 80 days or thereabouts since the initial bombing campaign that struck the girls\u2019 school. It\u2019s really pretty clear what happened there,\u201d<\/em> Representative Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the committee, said.<\/p>\n

He accused the Pentagon of \u201cendless stalling,\u201d<\/em> noting that it previously moved much faster to acknowledge \u201cthese types of mistakes\u201d<\/em> even before completing formal probes.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you at this moment acknowledge that that mistake was made and that we were responsible for it?\u201d<\/em> Smith asked Cooper, who replied that \u201cthe US does not deliberately target civilians\u201d<\/em> and reiterated that the investigation is ongoing.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"An
Iran accuses US and Israel of genocide<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cSo that\u2019s a no? We will not take responsibility for something we very obviously did?\u201d<\/em> Smith said.<\/p>\n

Cooper deflected, saying \u201cit\u2019s a complex investigation\u201d<\/em> and claiming that the school was located \u201con an active IRGC cruise missile base,\u201d<\/em> while promising lawmakers a report once the probe is complete.<\/p>\n

Archived copies of the school\u2019s official website, however, indicate that the school was adjacent to \u2013 not inside \u2013 the military compound and separated from it by a fence visible in satellite imagery. Reacting to Cooper\u2019s remarks, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei called his claims \u201can appalling lie.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThis shameless distortion is a clear attempt to obscure the severe reality,\u201d<\/em> he wrote on X on Wednesday, calling for accountability and describing the strike as \u201ca grave violation of international humanitarian law\u201d<\/em> and \u201ca clear war crime.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

The claim by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) that the targeted #Shajareh_Tayyebeh<\/a> Elementary School in #Minab<\/a> was located within a “missile launch facility” is a baseless fabrication and an appalling lie. <\/p>\n

This shameless distortion is a clear attempt to obscure the severe\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Esmaeil Baqaei (@IRIMFA_SPOX) May 19, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The tragedy sparked international outrage. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the US of \u201ccruelty, cynicism, and dehumanization.\u201d<\/em> Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed solidarity with the victims of the \u201cmassacre.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\n READ MORE: <\/span>Senate advances bill to limit Trump\u2019s Iran war powers
\n <\/a>\n <\/p>\n

While active fighting paused under a fragile April ceasefire, US-Iran negotiations on a broader peace deal remain deadlocked. Trump has dismissed Iran\u2019s latest proposals and again threatened to resume strikes unless Tehran accepts US terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe may have to give Iran another big hit\u2026 I\u2019m saying two or three days, maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday, something, maybe early next week, a limited period of time, because we can\u2019t let them have a new nuclear weapon,\u201d<\/em> he told reporters on Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Top lawmaker Adam Smith has pressed US Central Command chief Brad Cooper to acknowledge what…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}