Tehran: Iran has named two US Navy officers as “criminals” for authorising a missile strike on a school in Minab, killing nearly 175 people, including schoolgirls.
The country’s embassies in India, South Africa and Nigeria shared images of the officers, naming them as Leigh R Tate, commanding officer, and Jeffrey E York, executive officer of the USS Spruance. Tehran has alleged that the pair authorised three Tomahawk missile launches on the girls’ school.
The embassies described the officers as “criminals” and said the strike killed 168 children, the embassies posted on X. Messages from South Africa and Nigeria also questioned how the officers could justify their actions and whether they had children of their own.
“Remember these two criminals. Leigh R Tate, the commander, and Jeffrey E York, the executive officer of the USS Spruance, who ordered the launch of Tomahawk missiles three times, killing 168 innocent children at a school in #Minab,” Iran’s post in India states, as reported by News18.
The country’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi had described the attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Girls’ School as a deliberate and phased operation carried out on the first day of the conflict, during a debate in Geneva. He said more than 175 students and teachers were killed.
The US has not denied the strike. An US military review has pointed to a possible mistake. Preliminary findings, cited in a report, suggest outdated intelligence may have been used to identify the target.
The missiles were meant for a nearby military facility that had once been part of the same site, but faulty mapping may have caused the school to be hit instead, the US said.
The inquiry is still ongoing and key questions remain, including why the intelligence was not properly checked, US authorities have said. Washington has maintained it does not target civilian sites.
US president had initially attempted to shift the blame on Iran, claiming its weapons systems are often inaccurate.Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei had shared video footage of the strike in response, accusing the US of carrying out a war crime.
Meanwhile, observers believe that the identification of the two officers by name could have far-reaching consequences. They, or even their families, could be targeted by radicals.
