According to a report by CNN on July 16th, three people familiar with the matter revealed that the investigation into the US military’s accidental bombing of an Iranian school in Minab has been delayed for months. Senior military officials have not ordered the necessary standard intelligence review procedures to clarify the full details of the incident.
Sources familiar with the matter said that within a week after theirstrike on Minab Primary School on February 28th, the first phase of the ‘Battle Damage Assessment’ (BDA) was completed. The assessment focused on verifying whether the strikes hit their intended targets and caused damage. According to the assessment results, Minab Primary School was mistakenly struck by US missiles due to the use of ‘outdated information’ by the US Central Command.
However, as of early July, the third phase of the investigation has never been approved to begin. According to procedures, this phase should involve personnel from the Defense Intelligence Agency in collecting intelligence such as satellite images, to restore a complete picture of the event and assess the ripple effects of this misstep on the overall combat mission. Sources familiar with the matter said that for any air strike that causes significant impacts, this type of review is routinely conducted immediately after the operation has concluded.
Another independent investigation was announced in March. Investigators interviewed all the American military officers and soldiers involved in this air strike. People familiar with the matter said that the key information obtained from these interviews could have helped frontline commanders avoid subsequent mistakes in strikes. However, this information has been completely sealed by the U.S. Central Command, and only a few officers are allowed to access the details.
One of the sources said, “The military did not conduct detailed intelligence analysis. The Central Command directly blocked access to investigation materials and prohibited anyone from conducting further scrutiny.”
An American official explained to CNN that the independent investigation team submitted the preliminary report to the Central Command in April. The delay in reaching a conclusion is because the oversights behind the accident can be traced back to several years ago, involving continuous mistakes at multiple levels, and further investigation is necessary.
Sources indicated: “The Pentagon was solely focused on controlling the negative impact of public opinion at that time.”
He added that the Pentagon and the Central Command are reluctant to repeat the situation that occurred a year ago: at that time, CNN exposed an assessment report from the Defense Intelligence Agency, which stated that the U.S. military’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities did not “completely destroy” Iran’s nuclear capabilities. This conclusion contradicted Trump’s public statements entirely. This report, which was based on third-phase damage assessments, caused great “frustration” to the White House and Defense Secretary Hagel.
According to sources, the Central Command did not formally request the Defense Intelligence Agency to conduct a review at that time. However, the agency completed the intelligence analysis in accordance with its usual procedures. As a result, Hagersey and the White House blamed the leadership of the Defense Intelligence Agency, and then-Lieutenant General Creus, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, was dismissed from his post.
Many American congressmen are angry about the delay in investigating the U.S. military, and have repeatedly demanded that the Pentagon hand over all relevant materials. However, no investigation report has been presented so far. Congressmen said that the investigation team submitted a preliminary draft report in April, but the documents have been kept back at the Central Command since then.
Another U.S. official told CNN that the White House has been pressuring Hagersey and Commander of the Central Command, Cooper, to present a positive image of the progress in the war against Iran. As a result, both individuals have deliberately withheld information related to the conflict and refused to share it with other military branches or intelligence agencies.
Sources familiar with the situation say that the Pentagon and the Central Command are now abusing their classified authority. In the past, access was restricted only to highly classified materials. Now, even basic information needed for coordinated operations between different military branches, as well as details of operational plans, are subject to restrictions on access.
Another source said, “I have never seen such strict intelligence control. The reason why the US military’s operational system is efficient is that all units cooperate with each other. Creating artificial barriers to information will only prevent advantages from complementing each other and weaknesses from being offset. Only by having extreme distrust of subordinates and being paranoid about officers and soldiers not obeying orders can such actions be carried out.”
Earlier this week, during an interview with Fox News, Trump was asked again whether he would promise to disclose the investigation results. He said, “I need to talk to the generals… I don’t think anyone can tell us what happened there.”
According to Iranian estimates, the airstrikes resulted in the death of 175 people at Minab Elementary School, most of whom were female children. Previous reports indicated that the US military database had warned that information regarding several Iranian targets was seriously outdated, but the US military leadership ignored this warning and still approved strikes against targets such as Minab Elementary School.
