U.S. President Donald Trump stated on Wednesday that it may never be established who carried out the February 28 airstrike on a girls’ school in Minab, southern Iran, which killed more than 175 children and teachers. His remarks contradict an internal U.S. military investigation indicating American forces were likely responsible, according to sources cited by Reuters in March.

The strike, which occurred on the first day of the joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, triggered global outrage. Iranian officials reported that over 175 students and staff died when the school was hit. The United Nations human rights office described the incident as “absolutely horrific.” Deliberately targeting a school would constitute a war crime under international humanitarian law. U.S. officials have publicly stated that Washington would not intentionally strike such a facility.

“I don’t know that they are ever going to solve that problem in terms of whose fault it was because there were missiles flying all over the place,” Trump told reporters on June 24. “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 added, “I don’t think it was us.”

Despite the preliminary findings of the Pentagon probe, which sources say pointed to likely U.S. culpability due to outdated targeting data, the Department of Defense has not formally acknowledged any internal conclusions. Trump initially claimed without evidence that Iran was responsible, later saying he lacked full information and would accept an inquiry’s results, while insisting nobody purposefully attacked the school.