US intelligence failure let Iran school strike kill 120 children

A US intelligence analyst flagged changes at an Iranian site years before American missiles struck it, killing over 120 children, but the warning never reached the military targeting database. A Pentagon investigation exposed how outdated intelligence, rushed targeting and reliance on AI preceded the February 28 attack on Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab. Commercial satellite imagery showed walls and entrances separating the school from the military compound by 2017, with school features visible by 2018. The analyst recorded observations in 2019 into a digital system not connected to the main military intelligence database used for strike targets, so the information never entered the targeting process. The building was reviewed again later without updating the main database. The investigation also examined use of Palantir's Maven Smart System, which processes targets faster, with some Central Command personnel relying too heavily on it to identify old intelligence. More than 1,000 targets were hit in the opening 24 hours, reducing time for checks. A UN-backed mission said reasonable grounds exist that the strikes amounted to war crimes, though the White House rejected those findings