Preliminary findings suggest a “human” rather than AI error in relying on outdated targeting info
An ongoing military inquiry has found the US preliminarily responsible for a deadly Tomahawk missile strike on an Iranian elementary school that killed at least 175 people, most of them children, the New York Times has reported.
The February 28 strike on the Shajarah Tayyebeh girls’ school came on the first day of the US-Israeli attack on Iran that resulted in the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior Iranian commanders, as well as hundreds of civilians. It is the deadliest single strike in the ongoing campaign so far.
According to the NYT report on Wednesday, citing US military officials familiar with the initial findings, the strike was part of the opening wave of US attacks on facilities used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy in the area.
Investigators believe officers at US Central Command relied on outdated targeting data from the Defense Intelligence Agency that still classified the school building as part of a military compound, even though it had been converted into a school over a decade ago. The site bore clear signs of civilian use, including a sports field, children’s murals and brightly painted walls.
Preliminary findings into why the outdated information was not rechecked suggested it was “unlikely” that the use of new artificial intelligence tools such as Anthropic’s Claude was the primary cause, the paper wrote.
Military targeting typically involves multiple intelligence and operational agencies, with several layers of review intended to confirm each objective, the NYT wrote, citing investigators who say such safeguards can break down in the early stages of a conflict, when large numbers of targets are processed under time pressure.
Investigations by AP, CNN, and the Washington Post have also concluded the US was likely behind the attack. Visual analysis cited by the NYT, including satellite imagery and videos from the scene, indicates the blast was consistent with a Tomahawk impact.
President Donald Trump has denied US responsibility and offered shifting explanations, first suggesting “very inaccurate” Iranian munitions were to blame, then claiming without evidence that Tehran also “has some Tomahawks.” Washington is the only party to the conflict that possesses such weapons. US officials have confirmed the use of Tomahawks – which have a range of up to 1,600km – in strikes on Iran.
The attack has drawn sharp condemnation globally. The UN described the bombing as “a grave assault on children, on education, and on the future of an entire community.” The Russian Foreign Ministry said it “resolutely condemns” the strike, and UNESCO called it “a grave violation” of international humanitarian law. The UN human rights office has urged a full investigation.