{"id":58082,"date":"2026-03-11T12:00:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T20:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/?p=58082"},"modified":"2026-03-11T12:05:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T20:05:30","slug":"pro-war-republican-senator-apologizes-for-iran-girls-school-massacre-after-trump-blames-tehran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/2026\/03\/11\/pro-war-republican-senator-apologizes-for-iran-girls-school-massacre-after-trump-blames-tehran\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro-War Republican Senator Apologizes for Iran Girls\u2019 School Massacre After Trump Blames Tehran"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A Republican senator apologized this week for what <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/us-military\">US military<\/a> investigators have reportedly determined was an American missile strike on a girls\u2019 school in southern Iran that killed around 175 people \u2013 mostly children \u2013 amid continued sidestepping by President <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/donald-trump\">Donald Trump<\/a>, who has blamed <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/tehran\">Tehran<\/a> for the massacre.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) \u2013 who supports the US-Israeli war on Iran \u2013 <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/sahilkapur\/status\/2031168785844252903\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">first apologized<\/a> for the attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls\u2019 elementary school in Minab during a Monday interview with NBC News senior national political reporter Sahil Kapur.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was terrible,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cWe made a mistake&#8230; I\u2019m just so sorry it happened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kennedy <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=PG3FB7vcHSM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">repeated his apology<\/a> Tuesday on CNN, telling political correspondent Kasie Hunt: \u201cThe investigation may prove me wrong. I hope so. The kids are still dead, but I think it was a horrible, horrible mistake. I wish it hadn\u2019t happened. I\u2019m sorry it happened.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"bluesky-embed\" data-bluesky-uri=\"at:\/\/did:plc:t46sqvutibvsmjgwn6r6izve\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mgqktjnmes2w\" data-bluesky-cid=\"bafyreiavnditbtot5nq3romqk63zqyfjw5jh6eyqfej3c66ztspgxe5yme\">\n<p lang=\"en\">1. GOP Senator John Kennedy on why he felt it was important to apologize and acknowledge the truth about the bombing of a school in Minab, Iran, which multiple reports indicate was caused by a U.S. military targeting error.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/did:plc:t46sqvutibvsmjgwn6r6izve?ref_src=embed\">Yashar Ali \ud83d\udc18 (@yasharali.bsky.social)<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/did:plc:t46sqvutibvsmjgwn6r6izve\/post\/3mgqktjnmes2w?ref_src=embed\">2026-03-10T23:51:33.320Z<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/embed.bsky.app\/static\/embed.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Reuters <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/us-bombed-iran-girls-school\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">first reported<\/a> last week that US military investigators believe American forces carried out the school strike, a preliminary conclusion that came on the heels of a <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/05\/world\/middleeast\/iran-school-us-strikes-naval-base.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>New York Times<\/em> analysis<\/a> that found the US was \u201cmost likely to have carried out the strike\u201d due to its near-simultaneous bombing of a nearby Iranian naval base.<\/p>\n<p>This week, Iranian officials <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/trump-lying-about-iran-school-strike\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">displayed fragments<\/a> from what is believed to be the Tomahawk missile used in the school bombing. The remnants were marked with the names of two US arms companies, a <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/pentagon\">Pentagon<\/a> contract number, and the words \u201cMade in USA.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, <em>The <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/new-york-times\">New York Times<\/a><\/em> <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/11\/us\/politics\/iran-school-missile-strike.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> that the ongoing military probe has determined that the US launched the Tomahawk strike, which paramedics and victims\u2019 relatives <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/iran-school-double-tap\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> was a so-called \u201cdouble-tap,\u201d in which the attacker bombs a target and then follows up with a second strike meant to kill survivors and first responders. Investigators attribute the strike to a \u201ctargeting error,\u201d according to the <em>Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>This, as Trump \u2013 who <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/trump-bombs-iran\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">warned<\/a> as his illegal war started that \u201cbombs will be dropping everywhere\u201d \u2013 continued sidestepping blame for the attack.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday, Trump <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/trump-lies-iran-school-strike\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> aboard Air Force One that \u201cbased on what I\u2019ve seen, that was done by Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Two days later, the president <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/trump-lies-iran-school-strike\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">falsely claimed<\/a> that Iran has \u201csome\u201d Tomahawk missiles and may have used one of them to bomb the school. Iran has no Tomahawks \u2013 which are highly restricted and sold only to a handful of close allies \u2013 and the US does not sell weapons to the Iranian government, with the notable exception of the <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/nsarchive.gwu.edu\/events\/iran-contra-affair-1985-1994\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Iran-Contra Affair<\/a>, when the Reagan administration secretly sold arms to Tehran in order to fund anti-communist Contra terrorists in Nicaragua.<\/p>\n<p>Other senior <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/trump-administration\">Trump administration<\/a> officials <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/trump-lies-iran-school-strike\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">including<\/a> Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and US Ambassador to the <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/united-nations\">United Nations<\/a> Michael Waltz have declined to back the president\u2019s claims and have instead deferred to the ongoing military investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Kennedy told NBC News and CNN that the school bombing was unintentional.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOther countries do that sort of thing intentionally, like Russia,\u201d he told Kapur. \u201cWe would never do that intentionally.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since then-President <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/george-w-bush\">George W. Bush<\/a> launched the so-called Global <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/war-on-terror\">War on Terror<\/a> following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/united-states\">United States<\/a>, more than 430,000 civilians have been killed in over half a dozen countries, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/costsofwar.watson.brown.edu\/findings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to<\/a> the Costs of War Project at Brown University\u2019s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs.<\/p>\n<p>In 2020, the Costs of War Project <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/2020\/12\/07\/report-blames-trump-admin-330-rise-afghan-civilian-casualties\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> a 330% rise in <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/civilian-casualties\">civilian casualties<\/a> in Afghanistan following the first Trump administration\u2019s move to loosen military rules of engagement meant to protect noncombatants. While campaigning for president in 2016, Trump infamously vowed to \u201c<a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=6_35yJpVyAA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bomb the shit<\/a>\u201d out of Islamic State militants and \u201c<a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2015\/12\/02\/politics\/donald-trump-terrorists-families\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">take out their families<\/a>\u201d \u2013 a war crime \u2013 and after his election he ramped up bombing of <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/2019\/04\/25\/us-led-bombing-campaign-syria-killed-1600-civilians-and-left-raqqa-most-destroyed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Syria<\/a>, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/2017\/12\/01\/military-obscures-bloodshed-number-civilians-killed-us-bombs-soaring-say-watchdogs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Iraq<\/a>, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/2017\/04\/13\/commander-chief-trump-drops-mother-all-bombs-afghanistan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Afghanistan<\/a>, and other countries, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/storyline\/isis-terror\/liberating-mosul-isis-left-more-9-000-civilians-dead-report-n831431\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">killing thousands of civilians<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/biden-administration\">Biden administration<\/a> subsequently attempted to tackle the issue, publishing the <em><a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/media.defense.gov\/2022\/Aug\/25\/2003064740\/-1\/-1\/1\/CIVILIAN-HARM-MITIGATION-AND-RESPONSE-ACTION-PLAN.PDF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan<\/a><\/em> (CHMR-AP), which laid out a series of policy steps aimed at preventing and responding to the death and injury of civilians.<\/p>\n<p>However, since returning to office, Trump has effectively sidelined the plan. <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/trump-defense-department-iran-hegseth-civilian-casualties\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Prioritizing<\/a> \u201clethality,\u201d Hegseth <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/hegseth-rules-of-engagement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> at the outset of the current war that US forces won\u2019t be bound by \u201cstupid rules of engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Israel, which is bombing Iran along with US forces while simultaneously striking <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/lebanon\">Lebanon<\/a> and Gaza \u2013 where more than 250,000 <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/palestinians\">Palestinians<\/a> have been killed or wounded during 29 months of genocidal war \u2013 <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/26\/world\/middleeast\/israel-hamas-gaza-bombing.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dramatically loosened<\/a> its rules of engagement following the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack, effectively allowing for an unlimited number of civilian deaths in any strike targeting any member of the militant resistance group, no matter how low-ranking.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/civilian-deaths-in-gaza-2673907835\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">According to<\/a> leaked <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/israel-defense-forces\">Israel Defense Forces<\/a> data, 5 in 6 Palestinians killed by the IDF through the first 19 months of the US-backed war were civilians.<\/p>\n<p>Hundreds of Iranian and Lebanese civilians have been <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/iran-lebanon-children-killed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">killed<\/a> by US and Israeli attacks since February 28. US and Israeli use of <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/artificial-intelligence\">artificial intelligence<\/a> systems to select bombing targets exponentially faster than any person has also <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/us-israel-ai-iran\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">raised concerns<\/a> regarding a lack of meaningful human oversight. One former IDF officer <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/gaza-civilian-casualties-2666414736\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> AI enabled a \u201cmass assassination factory\u201d in <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/gaza\">Gaza<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Last year\u2019s US and Israeli attacks on Iran also killed hundreds of civilians, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.en-hrana.org\/twelve-days-under-fire-a-comprehensive-report-on-the-iran-israel-war\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to<\/a> the group <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/human-rights\">Human Rights<\/a> Activists in Iran.<\/p>\n<p>Kennedy\u2019s apology \u2013 which some observers <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/tlobo\/status\/2031523991341429058\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dismissed<\/a> due to the senator\u2019s support for the war and rejection of a <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/iran-war-powers-resolution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">war powers resolution <\/a>meant to limit Trump\u2019s ability to attack Iran without the legally required congressional approval \u2013 is still notable, as US leaders, and especially <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/republicans\">Republicans<\/a>, are usually highly reluctant to say they\u2019re sorry for civilian deaths.<\/p>\n<p>For example, after the USS <em>Vincennes<\/em> accidentally shot down Iran Air Flight 655 in 1988, killing all 290 civilians aboard, then-Vice President George H.W. Bush \u2013 who was running for president \u2013 <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/views\/2020\/01\/10\/ukraine-airliner-tragedy-evokes-memories-us-iran-air-shootdown-cubana-flight-455\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">infamously declared,<\/a> \u201cI\u2019ll never apologize for the United States of America, ever; I don\u2019t care what the facts are.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-media-max-width=\"560\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The history of US-Iran relations they don\u2019t teach you:<\/p>\n<p>A month after the US shot down Iran Air Flight 665, killing 290 passengers, George H.W. Bush proudly declared:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll never apologize for the United States, I don\u2019t care what the facts are.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1nNvIYR9MX\">https:\/\/t.co\/1nNvIYR9MX<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iFa3Ydh4Fo\">pic.twitter.com\/iFa3Ydh4Fo<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Afshin Rattansi (@afshinrattansi) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/afshinrattansi\/status\/2026606997324644526?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 25, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Two years later, Bush, then president, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/archive\/politics\/1990\/04\/23\/2-vincennes-officers-get-medals\/cf383f02-05ce-435b-9086-5d61de569ed8\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">awarded<\/a> the <em>Vincennes<\/em> officer in charge of air warfare a commendation medal for the \u201cheroic achievement\u201d of \u201cquickly and precisely\u201d downing the civilian airliner. The ship\u2019s captain was also honored with the Legion of Merit for his \u201coutstanding service.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Republican senator apologized this week for what US military investigators have reportedly determined was an American missile strike on a girls\u2019 school in southern Iran that killed around 175 people \u2013 mostly children \u2013 amid continued sidestepping by President Donald Trump, who has blamed Tehran for the massacre. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) \u2013 who [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":372,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"coauthors":[806],"class_list":["post-58082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"meta_box":{"disable_donate_message":"0","custom_donate_message":"","subtitle":"An ongoing US military probe has determined that the United States launched the Tomahawk missile attack that killed around 175 people \u2013 mostly children \u2013 in Minab on the first day of the war on Iran. "},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/372"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58082"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58088,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58082\/revisions\/58088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58082"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=58082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}