Despite Repeated Bombings, CENTCOM Head Denies US Targeted Schools in Iran

On Thursday, the head of CENTCOM denied reports of U.S. attacks damaging civilian sites in Iran — despite evidence that the U.S. has repeatedly bombed Iranian schools and health care facilities.

In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Admiral Brad Cooper, the standing commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) — which is responsible for U.S. military operations in the Middle East and parts of Central and South Asia — claimed that there was “no indication” that U.S. attacks on Iran had damaged numerous schools.

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) questioned Cooper, citing a report by The New York Times that at least 22 schools have been bombed in Iran.

Cooper, in turn, claimed that avoiding civilian casualties is a “passion” of his, and that the military “follows all the procedures” and has “gone above and beyond” to “warn the Iranian people” ahead of attacks that might harm civilians.

“If they’ve been warned, how did we then bomb 22 schools?” Gillibrand asked him.

“There is one active civilian casualty investigation from the 13,629 munitions,” he claimed, referring to the strike on a school in Minab that marked the start of the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran, and killed at least 155 schoolchildren.

Gillibrand then asked if the military has investigated the claims made by The New York Times and other publications that cite numerous other cases of civilian targets.

“Why have you not? If this is a passion of yours, if you believe that civilian casualties are not consistent with the law of war and not consistent with human rights obligations…. Why have you not investigated those allegations when they’re publicly being made on the cover of The New York Times?”

In April, The New York Times published an analysis documenting that it had verified damage to 22 schools and 17 health care facilities in Iran, with photos of many of the damaged or destroyed sites. The report admitted that this was likely a drastic undercount, and noted that the Iranian Red Crescent Society had documented at least 763 schools and 316 health care facilities damaged or destroyed during the war.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society has also noted over 82,000 civilian structures damaged by U.S. and Israeli bombardment of Iran. At least 17 Red Crescent Bases and 94 ambulances and rescue vehicles were also targeted and damaged.

In an article for Truthout, Khourosh Ziabari wrote that the U.S. and Israel “systematically” targeted academic institutions in Iran throughout the war — and that universities were deliberately targeted.

The New York Times used satellite imagery to confirm many of the damaged sites — which perhaps explains why the Trump administration imposed restrictions on accessing satellite imagery from Iran and other countries affected by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran later in April.