Nearly four months after the U.S. airstrike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, Iran, which killed more than 150 people, including 120 children, Amnesty International USA’s National Director for Government Relations & Advocacy, Amanda Klasing, said: “It’s been four months since the deadliest U.S. airstrike against civilians in recent memory, yet we are no closer to getting answers from U.S. authorities about why this happened and who was responsible. What is taking so long? The public and the victims’ families must have transparency and accountability, and families must get truth, justice and reparations.”
“President Trump has given contradictory statements, the Pentagon is stonewalling Congress, and lawmakers and the public are growing increasingly frustrated by the rote response of Secretary Hegseth and others that the incident is still under investigation.”
“What we do know is this: the U.S. military was responsible for killing over 150 people in an attack with precision-guided Tomahawk missiles on a school packed with children. Whether the Pentagon used artificial intelligence or not when targeting the school, it clearly did not take all feasible precautions to avoid or minimize civilian harm in its attack.”
“Indeed, there is no question that the U.S. should have known that the building was a school, not a military target. After the attack, Amnesty International, as well as media and other organizations, promptly verified that the building was a school and had been so for years. The Pentagon, with much more advanced intelligence-gathering capabilities and technologies, undoubtedly should have collected and verified this same information, which should have led to the decision not to attack the school.”
“We are also left with no further information about the potential use of artificial intelligence in the targeting decision. The CEO of Anthropic admitted in an interview with Bloomberg that he does not know if or how their artificial intelligence software may have been used to select targets for U. S. attacks in Iran, but he was quick to shift blame to the military, in particular to an unnamed ‘human’ making final targeting decisions.”
“Unfortunately, the horror in Minab is only the latest incident of the U.S. military killing civilians since President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took office and slashed the Pentagon’s programs to mitigate civilian harm in military operations last year.”
“We need answers now. The military has already had four months to explain what happened. The Pentagon must urgently finish its investigation and publicly release the findings. The investigation must consider the military’s intelligence gathering and assessments, as well as targeting decisions, precautions taken, and its use of artificial intelligence. Where sufficient evidence exists, competent authorities must prosecute any person suspected of criminal responsibility. The Pentagon must also reinstate civilian harm mitigation and response efforts and ensure compliance with international humanitarian law in military operations, including when using AI, to prevent future violations.”
“Anything less would amount to a coverup of a serious breach of international humanitarian law and a betrayal of the victims and survivors of this horrific attack.”
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