The UN investigates strike on Iranian girls' school Submitted by MEE staff on Tue, 03/17/2026 - 13:39 Initial investigations by US and independent groups point to US responsibility Coffins on the day of the funeral of victims of a reported strike on a school in Minab, Iran, 3 March 2026 (Amirhossein Khorgooei/ISNA/WANA/Reuters) Off A UN fact-finding group has begun investigating an air strike that hit Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in the southern city of Minab on the first day of the US-Israeli war on Iran. The attack, which killed at least 175 people, most of them children, is also being probed by US military investigators, with preliminary findings saying the US military was responsible for the attack, Reuters reported. The New York Times reported that officers at US Central Command had created the target coordinates for the strike using outdated data provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency, citing people briefed on the investigation. The attack on the school occurred simultaneously with missiles striking nearby Iranian naval targets. Iran has also blamed the US for the strike, describing it an "unforgivable" war crime. "We're at an early stage of that investigation," Max du Plessis, a member of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, told a press conference in Geneva on Tuesday. "It's clear to us that whatever happens in respect of such an event, given the innocent lives that have been lost, there is a critical need for such an investigation to be done and for an independent outcome to follow." It was first reported by Middle East Eye that the schoolgirls were killed by "double tap" strikes, with the second missile killing sheltering survivors, according to witnesses interviewed at the scene. Exclusive: Iranian girls killed by ‘double-tap’ strikes on Minab school Read More » “When the first bomb hit the school, one of the teachers and the principal moved a group of students to the prayer hall to protect them,” one of the Red C