Pete Hegseth claimed the Pentagon tries to ‘seriously’ avoid civilian deaths in Iran amid outrage over the bombing of a school that left over a hundred children dead.

An American Tomahawk cruise missile struck an elementary school in Iran on February 28, killing 175 civilians, many of them children. The U.S. military is the only force involved in the war with Iran that uses Tomahawk missiles, according to The New York Times.

The secretary of defense told reporters at a press briefing on Tuesday the military is ‘thoroughly’ investigating the incident, but he also blamed the Islamic regime for putting civilian lives at risk.

‘We will investigate,’ Hegseth when asked about the school bombing. ‘We take things very, very seriously and investigate them thoroughly, which takes time.’

‘Ultimately, unlike Iran, who targets civilians indiscriminately, who we’ve seen in the intel moving rocket launchers into civilian neighborhoods, near schools, near hospitals to try to prevent our ability to strike. That’s how they operate.’

Hegseth added, ‘They target civilians. We do not and I can tell you this, this this administration and this pentagon focuses on that very, very closely.’ 

Donald Trump previously claimed that Iran had bombed its own elementary school on the first day of the war, but later walked back the remark during a Monday briefing. The President said he did not yet know enough about the incident and that it remained under investigation.

‘I just don’t know enough about it,’ Trump told a reporter. ‘I think it’s something that’s under investigation…but I will certainly whatever the report shows – I’m willing to live with that report.’ 

The bombing killed 175 people, mostly children, on February 28. People are seen at the site after the strike

Hegseth claimed the Pentagon tries to ‘seriously’ avoid civilian deaths in Iran amid outrage over the bombing of a school that left over a hundred children dead

The military is ‘thoroughly’ investigating the incident, according to Hegseth

Children between the ages of seven and 12, along with staff members, were among those who died in the school strike in the Iranian city of Minab.

Trump’s claim that Iran was responsible comes after Reuters and The Wall Street Journal reported that the US was ‘likely responsible’ for the strike.

US officials told the WSJ: ‘US military investigators think American forces likely were responsible for a strike that killed dozens of children at a girls’ elementary school in Iran.’

The investigation hasn’t reached a final conclusion, the outlet reported last Friday.

Moreover, two other US officials told Reuters the same thing, but the outlet ‘was unable to determine more details about the investigation, including what evidence ‌contributed to the tentative assessment, what type of munition was used, who was responsible or why the US might have struck the school.’

Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham also hit out at the US for reportedly being behind the deadly airstrike.

‘If true, this is horrific news — and the U.S. military will have to address this publicly. Proximity of military compound obviously a factor, but our weapons also have pinpoint accuracy,’ she wrote on X, linking the WSJ article.

Dramatic images released after the attack showed numerous graves dug up so the victims could be laid to rest

The attack stands among the deadliest incidents so far in the US-Israeli campaign against Iran.

Dramatic images released after the attack showed numerous graves dug up so the victims could be laid to rest.

The school attack has sparked controversy across the world, leaving many upset to hear that young, innocent children were killed.