US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said American forces "would not deliberately target a school" after Iranian state media reported over 160 were killed in a strike on a girls' school on the first day of the US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
The reported strike took place on a girls' elementary school in the town of Minab in southern Iran on Saturday, marking the deadliest incident in the US and Israel's war against Iran.
The incident has been condemned by the UN culture and education agency UNESCO and Nobel Peace Prize-winning education activist Malala Yousafzai. Deliberately attacking an educational institution or hospital or any other civilian structure is a war crime under international humanitarian law.
"The Department of War would be investigating that if that was our strike, and I would refer your question to them," Rubio told reporters on Monday when asked about the incident. "The United States would not deliberately target a school."
The Pentagon and the US Central Command did not respond to a request for comment. Over the weekend, the US Central Command told media outlets it was "looking into" reports of "civilian harm resulting from ongoing military operations."
Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN under-secretary-general for peacebuilding, said on Monday she was aware of reports from Iran on the deaths from the reported strike and noted that US officials have said they were looking into the reports.
"It will be very tragic, but I can't speak to the details behind it because I just don't have it. It will be a tragic outcome if it's happened. I don't have the details as to what led to it but what is clear is that the United States will not deliberately target a school," Rubio said.
UN calls for investigation into deadly strike on school in Iran
The UN human rights office on Tuesday urged what it called the forces behind a deadly attack on a girls' school in Iran to investigate and share insights into the incident, without saying who it believed was responsible.
"The High Commissioner (Volker Turk) calls for a prompt, impartial and thorough investigation into the circumstances of the attack. The onus is on the forces that carried out the attack to investigate it," UN human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told a Geneva press briefing.
"This is absolutely horrific," Shamdasani said, adding that images circulating on social media captured "the essence of the destruction, despair, and senselessness and cruelty of this conflict".
Turk also urged all parties to exercise restraint and to return to the negotiating table, she said.
Iran's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, had previously raised the issue with Turk in a letter dated March 1, calling the attack "unjustifiable" and "criminal."
He said the attack had killed 150 students.
Turk's office does not have enough information to make a determination as to whether the strike constituted a war crime, Shamdasani said.
Conflicting reports regarding the source of the strike
Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, was also asked about the strike that Iranian state media blamed on Israel and the US, Danon said he had seen different reports, including that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted the school.
Reuters could not independently confirm the reports.
The US and Israeli air war against Iran began with their attacks against Tehran on Saturday and has since widened with Iranian retaliation.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed over the weekend. US President Donald Trump has said the operation could continue for some weeks.