25 Senate Democrats demand Pentagon release probe into deadly US strike on Iran elementary school

As the United States launches a "new war" against Iran, lawmakers are pressing for answers: Why did a Tomahawk cruise missile strike hit an elementary school in Minab, reportedly killing more than 100 Iranian schoolchildren?

Since the deadly missile attack on the school on February 28, calls for transparency have largely subsided as national attention remains fixed on successive rounds of strikes and control over the Strait of Hormuz.

Lawmakers Push for Investigation

In late March, a group of lawmakers requested a bipartisan investigation into the incident, but the government has released little to no information about the strike. On Monday, 25 Senate Democrats signed onto a letter addressed to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, demanding transparency about the investigation.

The letter calls for the Defense Department to:

• Finalize the investigation into the strike
• Provide an unclassified version of the report to Congress
• Submit a plan for corrective action no later than July 20

"When a U.S. strike kills civilians, the Department owes Congress, the American people, and the victims' families a clear accounting of what happened and a credible plan to prevent future failures," the letter states.

The Senate Armed Services Committee has also threatened to freeze Hegseth's travel budget if the Pentagon does not release more details about the school bombing.

Contradictory Official Accounts

As Reason has noted, the Pentagon and President Donald Trump have provided few, and even contradictory, answers about the strike. In March, Trump claimed that the strike could have been carried out by Iran or "somebody else."

On March 9, New York Times reporter Shawn McCreesh asked Trump why he was the only person suggesting that Iran obtained a Tomahawk and bombed its own school.

"Even your defense secretary wouldn't say that," McCreesh said. "Why are you the only person saying this?"

The president responded that he didn't know "enough about it."

"I think it's something that I was told is under investigation, but Tomahawks are used by others, as you know," he added. "Numerous other nations have Tomahawks. They buy them from us."

Press Reports Provide Key Details

The most substantive updates about the investigation have come from the press:

• March 11: The New York Times reported that U.S. officials familiar with the preliminary inquiry found the U.S. was responsible for the Tomahawk missile strike.

• March 18: Semafor reported that humans, not AI systems, were likely to blame, noting that "US officials failed to recognize subtle changes in satellite imagery."

• July 7: According to CNN, satellite imagery from 2013 showed the school and an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base as one compound. However, updated images indicated that a fence separated the school from the base, and dozens of people were shown playing in the school courtyard in December 2025. The outlet reported that senior U.S. military commanders ignored warnings about outdated intelligence.