A Pentagon spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the communication with Congress.
“We should all be deeply ashamed of the killing of 175 civilians, mostly young children, who had nothing to do with this terrible and reckless war,” one of the lawmakers who signed the letter, Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., said in a statement. “If the United States is truly responsible for this attack, then this Administration must immediately take responsibility, hold it accountable, and make amends to the survivors and victims’ loved ones. Instead, President Trump denies any US involvement in this attack and blames Iran without any evidence and before the investigation is complete. I will continue to press for answers and accountability, not only for this attack, but for the broader pattern of civilian harm caused by US and Israeli attacks on Iran.”
Trump has said, without evidence, that Iran may be responsible for the attack, a position that contradicts the preliminary conclusions of the US military investigation.
Asked if the United States attacked the school in Iran, Trump told reporters Saturday: “No, in my opinion, and from what I’ve seen, Iran did that.”
Hegseth was with Trump as he spoke to reporters, and when asked if it was true that Iran attacked the school, he said, “We are certainly investigating,” adding that “the only side that attacks civilians is Iran.”
The law of armed conflict dictates that the United States must distinguish between civilians and combatants and take all possible measures to protect civilians. But just days into the war, Hegseth said there would be no “stupid rules of engagement” for Operation Epic Fury, the current US military operation in Iran.
The rules of engagement define how the military can and should operate in a conflict in accordance with the law of armed conflict. They often define who and what can be the target of a specific conflict.
In a video released Wednesday morning, the commander of US Central Command acknowledged that the US is using AI in the war in Iran.
“Our warfighters are leveraging a variety of advanced artificial intelligence tools. These systems help us sift through large amounts of data in seconds so our leaders can cut through the noise and make smarter decisions faster than the enemy can react,” Admiral Brad Cooper said in the video produced by CENTCOM and posted to social media.
“Humans will always make final decisions about what to shoot, what not to shoot, and when to shoot, but advanced AI tools can turn processes that previously took hours and sometimes even days into seconds,” he said.
On Tuesday, Hegseth accused Iran of using civilian areas to carry out military operations.
“They fire missiles from schools and hospitals deliberately, deliberately at innocent people because they know that their military is being systematically degraded and annihilated,” Hegseth said at a Pentagon briefing. He provided no evidence to support the claim.
On Sunday, CENTCOM issued a security warning for Iranian civilians, saying the Iranian regime is using densely populated civilian areas to carry out military operations, including launching drones and ballistic missiles. CENTCOM urged civilians to stay indoors because as the regime moves equipment such as mobile launchers into civilian areas, that equipment could become a legitimate military target under international law.
“They are not our target,” a US official said of civilians, adding that Iran’s security apparatus remains a target of the US military. “We will do our best to mitigate harm to civilians, but we cannot guarantee this.”
