Overview
- A strike on Shajareh Tayyiba elementary school in Minab killed scores of children and teachers on February 28, Iranian state media reported, and U.S. forces opened an investigation days later that remains unreleased.
- Recent reporting says senior U.S. commanders approved strikes despite explicit warnings in Pentagon targeting systems that the intelligence was years out of date and needed revalidation.
- An intelligence analyst recorded changes at the site in a separate tool that was not linked to the official targeting database, and that note was not passed to commanders who approved the strike.
- Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response staffing was sharply reduced under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, leaving CENTCOM with roughly one full‑time CHMR specialist during target development and limiting civilian‑casualty review.
- The reporting also explains the technical context: the Pentagon still relies on an older manual system called MIDB while a newer AI platform, MARS, is behind schedule, and rapid prewar targeting choices prioritized updating mobile 'upper‑tier' sites over fixed sites like the school, raising legal and oversight questions and prompting calls for a public accounting.