NEWS: Schiff Joins Slotkin, Gillibrand, & Colleagues to Press Pentagon to Release Findings on Deadly Iran School Strike

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) joined Senators Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and 22 other colleagues to place additional pressure on the Department of Defense to release its findings on the February bombing of an elementary school in Iran. The attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab reportedly killed around 120 children and roughly 175 people overall, making it the deadliest civilian casualty event tied to U.S. military action in decades.

In a letter sent to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper, the Senators urged the Pentagon to complete its investigation into the strike and publicly release its findings. The probe was reportedly turned in back in April but has remained under review by top military officials since then. The Senators also asked the Department to give Congress a concrete plan for preventing a similar tragedy from happening again.

"More than four months after the strike, and after the reported submission of the investigation in April, Congress and the American people still have not received the Department's investigation and findings," the Senators wrote. "There is no justification for withholding an unclassified accounting of what happened, what went wrong, and what the Department is doing to prevent recurrence."

"These reported issues, if accurate, raise deeply troubling questions about the integrity of U.S. target development, the adequacy of target validation and vetting procedures, the interoperability of intelligence and targeting databases, the timeliness and reliability of intelligence used for lethal targeting, and the Department's implementation of civilian harm mitigation policies," the Senators wrote. "They also raise urgent questions about whether the Department has sufficient targeting personnel, training, accountability mechanisms, and technical safeguards to support large-scale conventional operations."

"The United States military has a legal and moral obligation to take all feasible precautions to prevent civilian harm. When a U.S. strike kills civilians, the Department owes Congress, the American people, and the victims' families a clear accounting of what happened and a credible plan to prevent future failures," the Senators concluded.

In addition to Schiff, Slotkin, and Gillibrand, the letter was signed by Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai'i), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.).

The full text of the letter can be found here and below.

Dear Secretary Hegseth and Admiral Cooper:

We write regarding the Department of Defense's investigation into the February 28, 2026 strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School for girls in Minab, Iran, which reportedly killed approximately 120 children and at least 175 people in total. If true, this incident would constitute the U.S. military's largest civilian casualty incident since 1991. The Department must promptly provide Congress with the complete and unredacted investigation, and submit a concrete plan to ensure such a tragedy does not happen again.

Recent press reporting indicates that the investigation ordered by Admiral Cooper was submitted in April but remains under review by senior DoD leadership. That reporting further indicates that investigators have identified multiple potential failures, including that an analyst noted as early as 2019 that the site appeared to have changed from a naval facility into a school, but that remark was entered into a digital intelligence tool that was not connected to the authoritative targeting database used to develop strike targets. The reporting also indicates that the site was reviewed multiple additional times in subsequent years without the targeting database being updated. Additional reporting from this week alleges that warnings were made in the system indicating the intelligence for the targets was dated, but those warnings were ignored for "expediency" even though the Administration spent weeks planning for President Trump's war of choice.

These reported issues, if accurate, raise deeply troubling questions about the integrity of U.S. target development, the adequacy of target validation and vetting procedures, the interoperability of intelligence and targeting databases, the timeliness and reliability of intelligence used for lethal targeting, and the Department's implementation of civilian harm mitigation policies. They also raise urgent questions about whether the Department has sufficient targeting personnel, training, accountability mechanisms, and technical safeguards to support large-scale conventional operations.

More than four months after the strike, and after the reported submission of the investigation in April, Congress and the American people still have not received the Department's investigation and findings. There is no justification for withholding an unclassified accounting of what happened, what went wrong, and what the Department is doing to prevent recurrence.

Accordingly, we request that the Department of Defense and U.S. Central Command take the following actions no later than July 20, 2026:

1. Promptly finalize the investigation into the February 28 strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School and provide Congress with the complete and unredacted investigation.
2. Provide an unclassified version of the report to Congress, suitable for public release.
3. Submit to Congress a prevention and remediation plan that identifies the specific corrective actions the Department will take to ensure this does not happen again.
4. Provide a briefing to Congress on the investigation and all steps being taken to ensure errors of this kind do not happen again.

The United States military has a legal and moral obligation to take all feasible precautions to prevent civilian harm. When a U.S. strike kills civilians, the Department owes Congress, the American people, and the victims' families a clear accounting of what happened and a credible plan to prevent future failures.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this urgent matter. We look forward to your response.

###