AI Targeting Error Behind Deadly US Strike on Iranian School

The February 28 strike occurred during an aerial assault ordered by the Trump administration. Investigations revealed the school was mistakenly identified as an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) facility by the Maven Smart System, an AI-powered platform developed by Palantir Technologies. While the site had been repurposed for civilian use nearly a decade ago—with satellite imagery clearly showing a soccer pitch and school markings by 2017—the primary military database failed to update the site's classification. Analysts had noted these changes in 2019, but that information was never integrated into the targeting system.

The catastrophe was compounded by significant staffing cuts within the Pentagon’s civilian-harm mitigation units, which saw personnel levels reduced by 90 percent. No specialists reviewed the Minab site prior to the strike, a move critics argue was a failure of the military's "kill chain" process. Although a UN investigation concluded the attack likely constituted a war crime, the US government has not formally accepted responsibility. President Trump has publicly questioned the circumstances of the event, and the Pentagon continues to withhold the findings of its internal inquiry, citing ongoing investigations.