New reports on US attack on Iranian school: 'Warnings were downplayed'

New reports indicate that a US strike on a school in Minab, Iran, on February 28, which allegedly killed 175 people, including many children aged 7-12, may have stemmed from ignored warnings and outdated intelligence. According to three CNN sources, communications highlighting obsolete coordinates and the necessity of re-verification appeared in the primary database used for target selection. The process for adding a new target typically requires approval from a senior officer, but sources suggest that in the rush following President Donald Trump's decision to wage war, US commanders disregarded these alerts. Target data for stationary sites was reportedly based on intelligence that was over a decade old, with only the most critical targets, such as mobile missile launchers and aircraft threatening US forces, having their data updated. One consequence was the bombing of a girls' primary school in Minab, instead of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) facility. Satellite imagery from 2013 showed the school was located within an IRGC naval base, but by 2016, the building was demarcated and fenced off. December 2025 photos showed dozens of people, likely children, in the schoolyard. A military analyst reportedly noticed changes at the site, but their tool was not integrated with the official database, and the update was not properly communicated. The use of outdated intelligence databases by the US was previously reported by The New York Times in March. The Pentagon has declined to comment on the matter due to an ongoing four-month military investigation. American media are assessing this incident as one of the most tragic errors in recent US military history.