The deadly missile strike on a girls' primary school in Iran - which killed at least 175 people - was the result of a targeting error by the US military, according to preliminary findings of a US military report.
The investigation found that co-ordinates for the strike used outdated information.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly denied that the US was responsible.
The school, which took a direct hit on the first day of the war, had a years-long online presence, including dozens of photos of the children and their activities, before it was struck along with at least six other buildings in an adjacent military compound, a Reuters investigation found.
Separated from the base by a wall painted with bright murals, the Shajareh Tayyebeh School was the northernmost building hit on 28 February.
The building was destroyed during the barrage, and 150 students were killed, according to Iran's ambassador to the UN. The Iranian Red Crescent said 175 people had died.
The coloured walls visible from satellite imagery as early as 2018 can be seen in a version of the school’s website archived in 2025, whose photos showed girls dressed in identical pink and white in class and at play.
The school was also tagged in a local business listing, and multiple satellite images from the months leading up to the strike provide other indications it was a school, including playground markings.
The cluster of buildings appeared to have been struck by a series of munitions including at least one American Tomahawk cruise missile, according to an analysis of satellite imagery data, photos and video of the strikes and their aftermath.
Mr Trump said on Monday that Iran might have Tomahawks, although he did not explain how, and no US officials have offered evidence of that claim.
The Pentagon said the strike is under investigation but declined to comment on the school’s online presence, the satellite imagery or on the decision to target the Minab compound.
Two sources, both speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters outdated targeting data may have been to blame, which was first reported by the New York Times.
Mark Cancian, a retired US Marine officer and defence expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said the US Central Command would have had a longstanding list of potential targets in case of conflict with Iran.
"The lesson learned here would be to review the target lists periodically and more closely," he said.
The school and at least six buildings in the adjacent Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps compound were the only places struck within 5km between 28 February and 2 March, Reuters found.
This suggests they were specifically targeted, rather than struck as part of a broad bombing campaign on the southern city.
Located near the Strait of Hormuz and surrounded by farm fields, Minab is home to one of the IRGC's largest missile bases, according to state media.
