US military commanders reportedly pushed through strike approvals despite system alerts flagging that key intelligence was outdated
New reporting from CNN reveals that senior American military officials disregarded warnings about stale intelligence on Iranian targets while rapidly assembling strike lists in the early hours of the conflict. Sources familiar with the internal decision-making process told the network that this oversight directly contributed to a tragic strike on a girls' school in Iran.
The attack, which claimed the lives of 120 students between the ages of 6 and 13 along with 36 adults, occurred on February 28 — the very first day of the joint US-Israeli military campaign against Iran.
CNN reported that the Pentagon's targeting system had built-in alerts flagging that intelligence on certain locations was based on outdated information, some of it years old, and required fresh verification before any strike could be authorized.
Warnings Bypassed for the Sake of Speed
According to three sources cited by CNN on Tuesday, these system warnings were deliberately overridden in the name of "expediency," as commanders raced to finalize strike options amid the pressure of launching the operation quickly.
The fallout prompted Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to launch a formal investigation back in March. CENTCOM Commander Brad Cooper later confirmed in May that the results of the inquiry would eventually be made public once completed.
CNN's sources indicated that military officials had actually pieced together how the error occurred within just days of the strike. One source bluntly described the intelligence used as "obviously old info."
Investigation Uncovers System Gaps
A separate report from Bloomberg last month revealed that the Pentagon's internal investigation, completed in April, traced the fatal strike back to structural flaws in the military's targeting infrastructure.
Bloomberg detailed how a US intelligence analyst had correctly identified the Minab site as an elementary school — not an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval facility — as far back as 2019. However, this critical update never made its way to military commanders because it had been logged into a separate digital intelligence tool that wasn't integrated with the Pentagon's official targeting database.
Trump Casts Doubt on Accountability
President Donald Trump suggested last month that the true source of the strike on Minab might never be conclusively determined.
"There were missiles flying all over the place, and it's horrible what happened… somebody said it was our missile, maybe it wasn't our missile but I have seen nothing to lead me to believe it was," Trump remarked.
Iranian officials have condemned the strike as both a war crime and a crime against humanity, calling for those responsible to be held accountable.
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