Trump news at a glance: Pentagon ‘taking a look’ at deadly strike on girls’ school in Iran as UN office demands answers

Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, offered few details and was evasive when asked about the deadly strike on a girls’ school in Iran, saying only that the US was “investigating” the incident. Iranian officials say the attack, which happened on Saturday, killed at least 165 students.

“All I can say is we’re investigating that,” Hegseth said when asked about the bombing of the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ school in Minab. “We, of course, never target civilian targets, but we’re taking a look and investigating that.”

The school was struck on the first day of US and Israeli attacks on Iran. In addition to the many killed, Iranian state media also reported that 96 others were injured, many of them students attending classes at the Shajareh Tayyebeh school.

On Tuesday, the United Nations human rights office called on what it described as “the forces behind a deadly attack on a girls’ school in Iran” to conduct an investigation and provide information about the incident, though it did not identify who it believed was responsible.

Hegseth also confirmed on Wednesday that a US submarine was behind the deadly strike on an Iranian frigate that killed more than 80 people, as it was sailing close to the Sri Lankan coast.

The US will have complete, uncontested control of Iranian airspace within days, the Pentagon chief declared.

“We are just getting started,” Hegseth said. “We are accelerating, not decelerating.”

Pete Hegseth says US is ‘investigating’ deadly strike on girls’ school in Iran

The UN committee on the rights of the child said in a statement: “The committee is alarmed by reports of strikes on civilian infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, which have injured and traumatised children, and claimed many young lives.” Children must be protected from war, the committee added.

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