The U.S. military is “looking into” whether it was responsible for a strike in the early hours of the Iran war that hit a sports hall and adjacent elementary school, a CENTCOM spokesman confirmed to the Washington Examiner.
This Feb. 28 strike and others occurred near the city of Lamerd and resulted in the deaths of at least 21 people, the New York Times reported on Sunday. This incident occurred on the same day the United States is accused of hitting a school in Minab, which is in another part of Iran, that is believed to have killed 175 people.
Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for CENTCOM, said in a statement: “We’re aware of the reports and are looking into them. U.S. forces do not indiscriminately target civilians, unlike the Iranian regime.”
A U.S. official confirmed to the New York Times that the missile in question is believed to be a Precision Strike Missile, which the military debuted in combat during this conflict. This strike in question could be the first time the military used a PrSM in combat, considering the military has already said this is the first time it has been used in a conflict.
There is an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps compound directly next to the sports hall. It’s unclear whether the school or sports hall had a connection or affiliation with the Guard.
When asked about the Minab strike earlier this month, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said, “All I can say is that we’re investigating that. We, of course, never target civilian targets, but we’re taking a look and investigating that.”
He also noted that CENTCOM had designated an investigating officer to complete a command investigation, but did not specify who was leading the review.
“The command investigation will take as long as necessary to address all the matters surrounding this incident, and the investigating officer is from outside CENTCOM and is a general officer. But I will note to this group and to the world, there’s only one entity in this conflict between us and Iran that never targets civilians, literally never target civilians,” Hegseth said.
TRUMP’S TWO PATHS FOR IRAN WAR: NEGOTIATION OR ESCALATION
The U.S. military has struck over 10,000 targets during the first month of the war against Iran, while Israel’s air force has also conducted thousands of strikes. Israel has targeted Iran’s senior military and regime leaders, but the U.S. has refrained from that target set.
The PrSM, which only completed its prototype testing last year, is designed to succeed the Army Tactical Missile System with extended range, improved lethality, and additional platform versatility.
