TEHRAN - The administration of President Donald Trump continues to shirk responsibility over a US missile attack on a school in southern Iran that killed nearly 170 people on the first day of the joint US–Israel war on February 28.

The Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school in the city of Minab, Hormozgan Province, was struck by a US Tomahawk missile. Local officials said last month that 120 students were killed—73 boys and 47 girls. Among the other victims were 26 teachers, all women, one of them six months pregnant, as well as seven parents, a school bus driver, and a technician at a nearby clinic.

Trump initially claimed the school was hit by an Iranian projectile, but an analysis by The New York Times suggests that it was almost certainly struck by the US military.

Only five countries are known to possess Tomahawk missiles: the US, Australia, the UK, the Netherlands, and Japan. US administration officials say the strike is under investigation.

A confrontation between Trump and a reporter brought the tragedy back into public attention. Niall Stanage of The Hill asked Trump on Friday evening outside the White House: “We’re at a point, almost 10 weeks after a missile hit a girls’ school in Iran. Who fired that missile?”

Trump replied: “So, uh, that’s under study right now… and we’ll give you a report as soon as we have it.”

The US strike against the Minab school has drawn widespread condemnation.

On Saturday, Ilan Uhrík, a Slovak member of the European Parliament, described the incident as a clear instance of a premeditated war crime. He made the remarks while joining a memorial gathering outside the Iranian Embassy in Brussels in honor of the victims.

The European representative also criticized the passivity of European institutions toward the tragedy. He said the European Union and its member states must avoid any complicity in such actions.

He further noted that although he had formally written to the European Commission, the leadership appeared to be operating under double standards. He suggested that European leaders have failed to properly investigate these allegations due to an inability to challenge the policies of the United States and Israel.

Uhrík also suggested that military actions against civilians, including women and the elderly in Gaza, Lebanon, and Beirut, indicate a pattern of targeting non-combatants to instill fear and achieve strategic objectives.

During the course of the 39-day war, the US and Israel killed thousands of people in Iran. Hospitals, residential areas, and energy infrastructure were also targeted.