A US Senator has issued an apology after a devastating airstrike struck a girls’ school in Minab, Iran, an attack that local officials say killed 175 students and teachers. The tragedy has sparked outrage and raised urgent questions.
According to the reports of NBC News, John Kennedy, a Republican senator from Louisiana and an ally of Donald Trump spoke about the incident on Monday night on Capitol Hill.
“It was terrible. We made a mistake,” Kennedy told NBC. “Other countries do that sort of thing intentionally, like Russia. We would never do that intentionally. I think the department is investigating it now, and I’m sorry.”
“I’m just so sorry it happened. It was a mistake.”
Trump says responsibility unclear
During a press conference on Monday evening, Donald Trump said that he was not sure if the US military was responsible for the strike. His comments came after a video surfaced appeared to show a Tomahawk missile landing near the school which is close to a building linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“I haven’t seen it and I will say that the Tomahawk, which is one of the most powerful weapons around is used by — you know, is sold and used by other countries,” Trump told reporters. “Whether it’s Iran or somebody else… a Tomahawk is very generic.”
When asked if he was accusing Iran of destroying the school, Trump responded that he did not have enough information.
“I just don’t know enough about it.”
“I think it’s something that I was told is under investigation, but Tomahawks are used by others, as you know. Numerous other nations have Tomahawks they buy them from us. But I will certainly — whatever the report shows I’m willing to live with that report,” he said.
Earlier on Saturday, Trump had suggested that Iran might have caused the incident.
“We think it was done by Iran because they’re very inaccurate with their munitions.”
“They have no accuracy, whatsoever. It was done by Iran,” he said.
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Investigation into strike continues
Karoline Leavitt said the investigation into the strike on the Iranian school is still ongoing when asked by the reports how long the investigation will take. She said, “The investigation continues and as the President said yesterday in his press conference, he will accept the conclusion of that investigation whatever it may be.”
She added that the US Department of Defense will release a report once the investigation is complete.