Weeks of silence over Iran school strike highly unusual, former US officials say

Weeks of silence over Iran school strike highly unusual, former US officials say2 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleTom Bateman, State Department correspondent and Cai PigliucciVerified video shows damage and smoke at Iranian school in MinabFive former US officials, including a former top military lawyer, have criticised the Pentagon for not acknowledging potential American involvement in a deadly strike on an Iranian school earlier this year.Some of those officials said it was highly unusual not to release even basic details of the strike after such a length of time.A missile hit a primary school in Minab during the opening salvos of the US-Israeli war on February 28, killing 168 people including around 110 children according to Iranian officials.In the two months since then the Pentagon has said only that the incident is under investigation.US media reported in early March that US military investigators believed American forces were likely responsible for hitting the school unintentionally but had not reached a final conclusion.Asked a series of questions by the BBC about the strike and the accusations of a lack of transparency, a Pentagon official said "this incident is currently under investigation," adding that more details would be provided when they became available.The BBC has reviewed three historical cases in which civilians were killed during US military operations and in each case significantly more information had been released by the Pentagon within less than a month.The current US position "strikingly departs from the standard response," said Lt Col Rachel E VanLandingham, a retired Judge Advocate General in the US Air Force and former senior legal adviser at US Central Command during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."Administrations in the past at least demonstrated fidelity, a commitment to the law of war," said VanLandingham, who argued what was "missing" from the administration's statements wa...