US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that it may never be known who was responsible for the strike that targeted a girls' school in Iran and killed dozens of children on 28 February, the first day of the war with Iran.
Reuters was the first to report in March that a preliminary internal US military investigation had concluded that American forces were most likely responsible for the deadly strike in Minab, in southern Iran. The Pentagon has since expanded the scope of the investigation but has not announced any preliminary findings.
Trump told reporters: "I don't know if they're ever going to solve that problem."
He added: "I don't know if they're going to solve that problem in terms of identifying who was responsible, because missiles were flying everywhere, and what happened is horrible, but missiles were flying everywhere."
Trump continued: "Someone said they were our missiles, and maybe they weren't our missiles, but I haven't seen anything that makes me believe they were our missiles... I don't think we were the cause of that."
The strike, which occurred during the United States and Israel's attack on Iran, killed more than 175 children and teachers.
Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in March that the strike may have resulted from the United States using outdated targeting data.
A deliberate attack on a school would likely constitute a war crime under international humanitarian law. US officials have stated that Washington would not intentionally target a school.
The attack drew worldwide outrage and was described by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights as "utterly horrifying."
Trump initially claimed, without evidence, that Iran was responsible. He has since said he does not know enough about the strike and that the investigation is ongoing, that he will accept the findings of the investigation, and that no one deliberately attacked the school.