NPR Adds Details on U.S. Missile Investigation and Civilian Casualties

A recent update to an NPR article on the Pentagon's investigation into a missile strike on an Iranian girls' school has added significant context to the story. The most notable changes include the addition of quotes from White House spokesperson Anna Kelly and military analyst N.R. Jenzen-Jones, as well as details about the civilian mitigation teams' efforts to reduce civilian casualties. The updated article also includes a quote from Oona Hathaway, a professor of International Law at Yale Law School, criticizing the U.S. military's handling of civilian protection. The changes suggest that NPR is providing more nuanced and detailed information about the investigation and its implications, potentially giving readers a more comprehensive understanding of the events. This added context is particularly relevant given the ongoing debate about the U.S. military's actions in the Middle East and the importance of civilian protection in armed conflict.

Related Changes

Pentagon probe points to U.S. missile hitting Iranian school +313 -130
Special Series Middle East conflict Conflict in the Middle East has been escalating. These stories provide context for current developments and the history that led up to them. By Tom Bowman , Kat Lonsdorf , Geoff Brumfiel , NPR Staff This picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency shows the site of a strike on a girls' school in Minab, in Iran's southern Hormozgan province, on February 28, 2026. Ali Najafii/ISNA/AFP via Getty Images hide caption The U.S.
− has launched a formal investigation into a missile strike on an Iranian girls' school that killed at least 165 civilians, after a preliminary assessment determined the U.S.
+ has launched a formal investigation into a missile strike on an Iranian girls' school that killed at least 165 civilians, many of them children, after a preliminary assessment determined the U.S.
was at fault, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly. The investigation is expected to take months and will include interviews with all those involved, from planners and commanders to those who carried out the strike. Middle East conflict Satellite images show Iran school strike hit more buildings than earlier reported If the U.S. role in the attack is confirmed, it would rank among the military's most deadly incidents involving civilians in decades. Congress created a special Pentagon office to prevent the accidental targeting of civilians but it was dramatically scaled back by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth soon after he took office last year.
+ "This investigation is ongoing. As we have said, unlike the terrorist Iranian regime, the United States does not target civilians," said White House spokesperson Anna Kelly. The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment. At a press conference shortly after the war began, Hegseth criticized "stupid rules of engagement," and said such rules interfere with winning.
Loading... NPR was the first news organization to report that the strike on the school appeared to be part of an attack involving precision weapons. Subsequent video of the strike released by Iranian state media gave visual indications that Tomahawk missiles struck a compound that included the school. Iranian state media also released pictures of Tomahawk missile components on a table in front of the school Middle East conflict Video appears to show U.S. cruise missile striking Iranian school compound NPR previously reported that the girls' school was once part of what had been an Iranian Revolutionary Guard naval base and may have been shown on outdated U.S. target lists as a military building. The school was walled off from the base sometime between 2013 and 2016, according to historical satellite imagery reviewed by NPR. A public health clinic on the base was also struck. Satellite images show that clinic was walled off from the base around 2024, and opened in 2025 according to local media reports. Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander-in-chief Hossein Salami cut the ribbon for the clinic's opening. He was assassinated by Israel later that year.
− At a press conference this week, President Trump suggested that Iran or another country fired the missile, calling Tomahawks "very generic" weapons.
+ At a press conference this week, President Trump suggested that Iran or another country fired the missile, calling the U.S.-made Tomahawks "very generic" weapons.
− But several military analysts told NPR that no Iranian missile resembled the one in the video.
+ But several military analysts told NPR this week that no Iranian missile resembled the one in the video. "Tomahawks are only used and operated by a very small number of nations," said N.R.
− Only a handful of countries in the world have access to the U.S.-made Tomahawks, and the U.S.
+ Jenzen-Jones, director of Armament Research Services, a technical intelligence consultancy that provides munitions analysis to governments and NGOs.
+ He noted that the U.S.
is the only country in the conflict that uses them.
− After a series of fatal strikes involving civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, Congress directed the Pentagon to reduce civilian casualties as part of a 2019 law.
+ "I think it's pretty clear from the emerging information that it's likely a strike that's gone wrong," he said.
+ "The most likely scenario at this point is that somewhere along the way in the targeting process, there was an intelligence failure." After a series of fatal strikes involving civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, Congress directed the Pentagon to reduce civilian casualties as part of a 2019 law.
During the Biden administration, the Defense Department created the Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response initiative.
− The civilian mitigation teams work with military commanders on target planning, and making sure that targets are actually military sites.
+ The civilian mitigation teams – cut by 90% by Hegseth – work with military commanders on target planning, and making sure that targets are actually military sites.
The teams help come up with "no strike" lists, including religious and cultural sites and schools. They have provided details on whether potential target areas have high concentrations of civilians. They have also suggested using precision munitions, or smaller weapons to mitigate harm.
− The U.S.
+ "At every level, civilian protection has been deprioritized," said Oona Hathaway, a professor of International Law at Yale Law School and the director of its Center for Global Legal Challenges.
+ "A modern army has to fight according to the law, and the law requires that you protect civilians." The U.S.
official told NPR that Hegseth's decision to scale back those efforts meant that the U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East, had only one staffer assigned to civilian casualty mitigation operations. The official also said that due to Hegseth's decision to cut Defense Department funding to prevent civilian casualties, military commands were paying out of their own budget for analysts to do the work that had once been centrally planned. NPR's RAD team contributed to this report. Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor