Analyst flagged Minab school as civilian site in 2019, warning missed: Report
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Graves of children killed in Minab school strike Photograph: (AFP)
A Pentagon investigation revealed a US intelligence analyst identified the struck Minab school as a civilian site in 2019, but the warning failed to reach commanders due to a disconnected system.
Way before the tragic incident in which 120 children were killed during the US-Iran war, a US intelligence analyst identified an Iranian military site as an elementary school as early as 2019. But the warning never reached military commanders. The information was reportedly entered into a disconnected intelligence system.
The revelation is among a series of failures uncovered during a Pentagon investigation into a US missile strike on the school in Minab, southeastern Iran, on February 28, which Iranian state media said killed 120 children and nearly 200 people overall.
According to Bloomberg, years before the US launched military operations against Iran, an intelligence analyst reviewing potential future strike targets noticed that a location previously identified as a naval facility used by Iran’s elite military forces had been converted into an elementary school.
The analyst reportedly documented the finding in a digital intelligence tool. However, the system was not connected to the official US intelligence database used to develop targeting lists, meaning the information was never passed on to military commanders, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg on condition of anonymity because they were discussing sensitive issues.
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One of the sources said the analyst submitted the remarks in 2019.
According to the report, the warning remained unnoticed even as the same site underwent multiple reviews in subsequent years. At no point was the official targeting database updated to reflect that the building was functioning as a school.
