Donald Trump says ‘nobody’ attacked Iranian girls’ school ‘on purpose’ | US News

Donald Trump has said “nobody” purposefully attacked an Iranian girls’ school where scores of people were killed in a strike on the first day of the war.

More than 175 children and teachers died after the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab was hit on 28 February, ‌according to Iranian officials.

Sky News has verified 152 of those killed in the missile strike. Using a range of information sources, the faces of all the 120 students – aged 6 to 13 – and 26 teachers have been identified.

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Inside Iran in May: Sky News investigates Minab school bombing

The US president has stressed the incident was “under investigation”.

He initially claimed, without evidence, that Iran was responsible.

He has since said he does not know enough about the strike, that an inquiry is ongoing, and that he will accept its results.

The US is widely believed to be behind the attack, with growing evidence that outdated US intelligence was “likely” to blame for the attack on the school.

When asked by a reporter at the G7 meeting in France if anyone would be held accountable for the strike, Mr Trump criticised the question as “strange”.

“It’s such a strange question to be asked at this date, because you’re talking about a long time ago,” the president said. Before adding that “nobody did that on purpose”.

“Mistakes are made, war’s nasty… I would ask Pete Hegseth (US defence secretary) that question, because they have it under investigation.”

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In May, Sky’s Dominic Waghorn became the first journalist from outside Iran to film the site of the attack.

Visiting the local cemetery, which has had to be expanded to make room for the new children, he described it as “overwhelming”.

Last month, the head of US Central Command said the investigation into the strike at the girls’ school has been “complex”, given that it was located on an active Iranian cruise missile base, but that the probe is approaching its conclusion.

Archived copies of the school’s official website show the school is adjacent to a compound operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the military force that reports to Iran’s supreme leader.