Van Hollen Joins Gillibrand, Colleagues in Demanding Pentagon Release Long-Awaited Report on U.S. Bombing of Iranian Elementary School

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and 23 of their Senate colleagues in continuing to demand answers from the Department of Defense (DoD) over the U.S.’ bombing of an Iranian elementary school in February. The strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, which reportedly killed approximately 120 children and at least 175 people in total, represented the worst civilian casualty incident caused by the U.S. military in decades. In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) Admiral Brad Cooper, the senators called for the swift completion and release of the Pentagon’s investigation into the school strike, which was reportedly submitted in April, but remains under review by senior military officials. They also requested that the Pentagon provide Congress with a comprehensive plan to ensure that this type of incident does not happen again. “More than four months after the strike, and after the reported submission of the investigation in April, Congress and the American people still have not received the Department’s investigation and findings,” the senators wrote. “There is no justification for withholding an unclassified accounting of what happened, what went wrong, and what the Department is doing to prevent recurrence.” In early March, Reuters first reported that U.S. military investigators believed U.S. forces were likely responsible for the Minab strike. Days later, Pentagon officials reportedly concluded through their preliminary investigation that a U.S. Tomahawk missile had struck the school. Investigators have also reportedly found that multiple failures led the school to be targeted in error, including missed 2019 remarks by an intelligence analyst indicating that the site had changed from a naval facility to a school. The analyst had entered the remarks into a digital system that was not connected to the authoritative targeting database, and officials planning the attack used imagery that had not been updated in several years and did not show a school at the site. In fact, according to recent reporting , senior U.S. military commanders ignored warnings that intelligence about potential targets was severely out of date for the sake of “expediency,” which directly contributed to the strike on the school. “These reported issues, if accurate, raise deeply troubling questions about the integrity of U.S. target development, the adequacy of target validation and vetting procedures, the interoperability of intelligence and targeting databases, the timeliness and reliability of intelligence used for lethal targeting, and the Department’s implementation of civilian harm mitigation policies,” the senators wrote. “They also raise urgent questions about whether the Department has sufficient targeting personnel, training, accountability mechanisms, and technical safeguards to support large-scale conventional operations. Despite this reporting, Trump administration officials have not publicly taken responsibility for the strike or the resultant civilian deaths. President Trump himself has suggested multiple times that the strike was not the U.S.’ fault and has even blamed Iran . Additionally, Sec. Hegseth has spent his tenure deriding the rules of engagement and cutting DoD programs that aim to prevent harm to civilians during war, including slashing civilian harm mitigation and response staff at the U.S. combatant commands by over 90 percent. The senators concluded, “The United States military has a legal and moral obligation to take all feasible precautions to prevent civilian harm. When a U.S. strike kills civilians, the Department owes Congress, the American people, and the victims’ families a clear accounting of what happened and a credible plan to prevent future failures.” In addition to Senators Van Hollen and Gillibrand, the letter was signed by Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.). The full text of the letter can be found here and below. Dear Secretary Hegseth and Admiral Cooper: We write regarding the Department of Defense’s investigation into the February 28, 2026 strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School for girls in Minab, Iran, which reportedly killed approximately 120 children and at least 175 people in total. If true, this incident would constitute the U.S. military’s largest civilian casualty incident since 1991. The Department must promptly provide Congress with the complete and unredacted investigation, and submit a concrete plan to ensure such a tragedy does not happen again. Recent press reporting indicates that the investigation ordered by Admiral Cooper was submitted in April but remains under review by senior DoD leadership. That reporting further indicates that investigators have identified multiple potential failures, including that an analyst noted as early as 2019 that the site appeared to have changed from a naval facility into a school, but that remark was entered into a digital intelligence tool that was not connected to the authoritative targeting database used to develop strike targets. The reporting also indicates that the site was reviewed multiple additional times in subsequent years without the targeting database being updated. Additional reporting from this week alleges that warnings were made in the system indicating the intelligence for the targets was dated, but those warnings were ignored for “expediency” even though the Administration spent weeks planning for President Trump’s war of choice. These reported issues, if accurate, raise deeply troubling questions about the integrity of U.S. target development, the adequacy of target validation and vetting procedures, the interoperability of intelligence and targeting databases, the timeliness and reliability of intelligence used for lethal targeting, and the Department’s implementation of civilian harm mitigation policies. They also raise urgent questions about whether the Department has sufficient targeting personnel, training, accountability mechanisms, and technical safeguards to support large-scale conventional operations. More than four months after the strike, and after the reported submission of the investigation in April, Congress and the American people still have not received the Department’s investigation and findings. There is no justification for withholding an unclassified accounting of what happened, what went wrong, and what the Department is doing to prevent recurrence. Accordingly, we request that the Department of Defense and U.S. Central Command take the following actions no later than July 20, 2026: 1. Promptly finalize the investigation into the February 28 strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School and provide Congress with the complete and unredacted investigation. 2. Provide an unclassified version of the report to Congress, suitable for public release. 3. Submit to Congress a prevention and remediation plan that identifies the specific corrective actions the Department will take to ensure this does not happen again. 4. Provide a briefing to Congress on the investigation and all steps being taken to ensure errors of this kind do not happen again. The United States military has a legal and moral obligation to take all feasible precautions to prevent civilian harm. When a U.S. strike kills civilians, the Department owes Congress, the American people, and the victims’ families a clear accounting of what happened and a credible plan to prevent future failures. Thank you for your prompt attention to this urgent matter. We look forward to your response. Sincerely,