White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back on reports that the initial strikes from Israeli and United States forces on Iran struck a girls’ school, killing up to 175 people, most of them schoolgirls between the ages of 7 and 12 years old.
“Not that we know of,” Leavitt responded when asked during Wednesday’s briefing if the Trump administration was aware of the apparent strike, and appeared to suggest the reports were “propaganda” from Iranian state media.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Wednesday in Washington. AP Photo/Alex Brandon
“The Department of War is investigating this matter,” Leavitt said. “And I would just tell you very strongly the United States of America does not target civilians, unlike the rogue Iranian regime that targets civilians, that kills children, that has killed thousands of their own people in the past several weeks and uses propaganda quite effectively, and unfortunately, many people in this room have fallen for that propaganda.”
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This picture, released by the Iranian government’s foreign media department and distributed by The Associated Press without changes, shows graves being prepared for the victims, mostly children, of what Iranian officials said was an Israeli-U.S. strike on Feb. 28 at a girls’ elementary school in Minab, Iran. Iranian Foreign Media Department via AP
Iranian state media and Iranian health officials reported the strike took place early Saturday morning in Minab, in the country’s southern Hormozgan province. Journalists from international news organizations have not been given access to independently verify the death toll or the circumstances surrounding the strike. Neither the U.S. nor Israel has claimed responsibility for the attack.
However, video footage from the alleged incident has emerged, showing black smoke rising from a damaged building adorned with murals of crayons, children and an apple. CBS News was able to geolocate the video to a building in Minab. Iranian state media has identified that building as Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school. Iran’s school week runs from Saturday to Thursday, and students were in the middle of their morning session when the strike occurred.
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CBS News also reported the building is located near two sites controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Hossein Kermanpour, a spokesman for Iran’s health ministry, said in a post on X that dozens killed at the school were “young child martyrs.”
Mourners on Tuesday gathered in Minab for the funerals of the students and staff killed during Saturday’s strike. Hundreds of people packed the streets to pay their respects at the funerals, which were broadcast over Iranian state TV.
When asked by BBC News during a press briefing on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon was investigating the incident.
“All I can say is that we’re investigating, and that we of course never target civilian targets,” Hegseth said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday the U.S. would not intentionally target a school.
“The United States would not deliberately target a school. Our objectives are missiles, both the ability to manufacture them and the ability to launch them,” he told reporters.
Iranian state media reported on Wednesday the death toll in the country has risen to over 1,000, with 6,000 others wounded. A total of six U.S. service members have been killed thus far, according to U.S. Central Command.
