Minab school: Pentagon will not release its report on the strike until after the US election

Senior officials at the US Department of Defense plan not to release the internal report on the strike on the "Shajareh Tayyebeh" girls' primary school in Minab until at least after the US midterm elections in November. Bloomberg reported on Thursday, 15 October 2026, citing people with knowledge of the matter, that advisers to US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have informed a number of Pentagon staff of the decision.

The strike on the school in Minab, in Hormozgan province, took place on the first day of the war of the United States and Israel against the Islamic Republic, on 28 February 2026, and is considered the deadliest attack on civilians in this war. Reports on the death toll vary from more than 150 to more than 170 people, most of them children.

Preliminary findings and an IRGC base next to the school

According to sources familiar with the investigation, the report by US Central Command (CENTCOM) has been nearly complete for months. Preliminary findings published by NBC in May–June suggested that a US munition and outdated intelligence were probably behind the tragedy. A video whose location NBC confirmed showed, according to experts, a US Tomahawk cruise missile striking an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) headquarters adjacent to the school; the very fact that an IRGC military base stood next to a primary school raises serious questions about the lives of children.

According to an earlier Bloomberg report, the Pentagon's civilian harm mitigation units had been cut by about 90 percent before the strike, with their staff reduced to fewer than 20. The Pentagon has so far not formally accepted responsibility for the strike and says the case is under review.

Pressure from Congress for transparency

Forty-six senators, most of them Democrats, have asked the Pentagon to explain its targeting analysis process, and Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has called for Hegseth's resignation. Members of Congress had earlier voiced concern over the report's classification. Donald Trump also said in May–June that mistakes happen in war. The news comes as reports speak of new US plans to strike the Islamic Republic.

Eight months after more than 150 people were killed at the Minab primary school, the families have still not seen an official report.