More than eleven weeks after the Minab school tragedy, U.S. officials continue to say the matter is "under review." In recent days, Trump has repeatedly echoed the phrase "it is being investigated," as if time itself is expected to draw a curtain over this American atrocity.
One week ago, the U.S. President — caught up in the frenzy of preparing for his trip to China — responded to a question about who was responsible for firing on the Minab school by saying the matter was under investigation. Now that he has returned from China, in his latest interview he still insists the matter is being reviewed — and went a step further by lashing out at the reporter and his own broadcaster, the BBC. More than eleven weeks have passed since the Minab school tragedy, which claimed the lives of 168 students, teachers, and Iranian citizens — yet U.S. officials continue to maintain silence on the issue. Decades ago, they dragged out the investigation into the downing of an Iranian passenger plane — which killed 290 passengers — for so long that time eventually allowed it to fade from memory.
Investigations That Never End
After the tragedy at the Shajareh Tayyebeh School in Minab — which left 120 students martyred — beyond the international reactions, a number of Democratic lawmakers in the United States, along with former politicians and independent figures, also called for an impartial investigation into who was responsible for the catastrophe. The Democrats, who for political reasons have been — and continue to be — eager to strike at their Republican rivals, have been the most vocal in this regard. Meanwhile, the U.S. administration has repeatedly made contradictory claims. Trump initially blamed Iran for the incident. But investigations and imagery have since shown how American Tomahawk missiles struck the school in two separate waves — the very missiles the U.S. President had acknowledged before the war that his military would use.
From Flight 655 to the Slaughter of Dozens of Children
On July 3, 1988 — just days before Iran and Iraq were to accept a ceasefire — the United States, seeking to intensify pressure on Iran, struck an Iranian Airbus passenger jet with 290 people on board, killing all aboard. At the time, the investigation into that atrocity — committed by the USS Vincennes — dragged on endlessly. The issue was not whether the warship had fired on the plane; the issue was that the Americans claimed that, despite all their radar and surveillance capabilities, they had mistaken a large passenger airliner for a relatively small F-14 fighter jet. That claim allowed the "investigative process" to stretch on for years. Finally, in 1996, the U.S. government agreed to pay non‑binding compensation to the victims' families — eight years after the incident.
In the Minab school tragedy, the U.S. government appears intent on following the same pattern it used in the downing of the Iranian Airbus. Despite investigations by American media outlets such as CBS, the Associated Press, and Reuters, as well as sources inside the Pentagon, all of which have identified the United States as responsible for the catastrophe, senior U.S. officials continue to invoke "ongoing investigations" every time they are asked about the Minab school.
Your God is Satan!
On April 29 — two months after the Minab school tragedy — Pete Hegseth, the U.S. Secretary of War, offered an implicit admission of U.S. involvement in the Minab disaster and expressed regret over it, yet still referred journalists to "ongoing investigations." The United States, which has conducted some 250 military operations worldwide since World War II — including wars, intermittent invasions, support for coups, and regime change operations — has committed atrocities like the one in Minab in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and elsewhere.
Marco Rubio, the U.S. Secretary of State, recently posted on X a picture of himself appearing to pray. The caption read: "America will always be a nation that calls on God in prayer." In response, Daniel McAdams, a political analyst and former U.S. Congressman, wrote: "You murdered 175 schoolgirls in a two‑stage attack designed to kill every survivor. Don't talk to me about God. Your 'God' is Satan."
By Alireza Mohammadi