President Donald Trump said on Wednesday it may never be known who was responsible for the February 28 airstrike that killed more than 175 children and teachers at a girls’ school in Minab, Iran, casting doubt on whether accountability would be established for an attack that drew global condemnation as a potential war crime. “I don’t think it was us,” Trump told reporters in Washington, despite internal US military assessments that had initially pointed to likely American responsibility.

The strike, which occurred on the first day of the US-Israel offensive against Iran, sparked outrage from world leaders and human rights organisations. The UN human rights office described the incident as “absolutely horrific,” while Iranian officials said more than 175 people died when the school was hit. Deliberately targeting a school would likely be a war crime under international humanitarian law, though US officials have said Washington would never purposefully strike such a facility.

Reuters first reported in March that a preliminary US military investigation had found American forces were probably at fault, with sources citing the use of outdated targeting data. The Pentagon elevated the probe but has not acknowledged any initial findings. Trump dismissed that narrative on Wednesday, suggesting the chaotic battlespace made blame impossible to assign. “Somebody said it was our missile, maybe it wasn’t our missile but I have seen nothing to lead me to believe it was,” he said. “There were missiles flying all over the place.”

After first claiming without evidence that Iran was responsible, Trump later said he would accept the results of the ongoing investigation. The Pentagon has not acknowledged any preliminary findings, leaving families of the victims and the international community with no clear path to justice.