U.S. Missile Strike on Iran Hits Sports Hall and School, Pentagon Analysis Reveals

A Pentagon analysis of American missile strikes conducted on the first day of the U.S.-Israel war against Iran has revealed that at least two weapons struck a sports hall and a school building near a targeted military compound, raising fresh questions about the precision of certain munitions and the adequacy of pre-strike intelligence assessments.

The February 28 strikes, which opened the conflict, killed dozens of people in the areas surrounding the intended military targets according to Iranian casualty figures that the Pentagon has not independently confirmed. Defense officials, briefed anonymously by reporters, said the analysis was part of an ongoing internal review of battle damage assessments and did not indicate deliberate targeting of civilian structures. They attributed the impacts to guidance system performance under jamming conditions and to the proximity of civilian buildings to military facilities.

The disclosure comes as the cumulative civilian death toll in Iran has climbed to more than 1,500 people, including at least 217 children, according to Iranian Red Crescent figures. The United States has disputed some of those numbers, saying Iranian authorities were counting deaths from secondary explosions and infrastructure failures rather than direct strike casualties, though independent verification of either set of figures has been impossible due to the near-total communications blackout Iran imposed after the first week of hostilities.

Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar called for an independent investigation in a joint statement, citing the Pentagon's own findings as evidence that the administration cannot be trusted to police itself on questions of civilian harm. The White House referred questions to the Defense Department, which said it had robust procedures in place for post-strike review.

The weapons involved included a mix of Joint Direct Attack Munition kits fitted to unguided bombs and an unspecified number of newer precision-glide munitions that defense officials said were being used in combat for the first time. Iran has fielded electronic warfare capabilities capable of disrupting GPS guidance, and U.S. military planners have been working to mitigate those vulnerabilities using inertial and terrain-matching guidance as backup modes. The sports hall and school were struck during a time of day when they were unlikely to be occupied, defense officials said, though that claim could not be independently verified.