Senate Democrats have spent the past six weeks escalating pressure on the Pentagon over civilian casualties in the US-Iran conflict, with near-unanimous Democratic support for a formal demand to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to provide answers on a February 28 airstrike that killed more than 100 children at an elementary school in Minab, Iran.
The letter to Hegseth, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jeanne Shaheen, and Senators Chris Van Hollen, Tim Kaine, Elizabeth Warren and Brian Schatz, was signed by 41 senators including independents Bernie Sanders and Angus King, making it virtually the entire Democratic caucus. The sole notable absence was Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who has largely supported the Iran operation, though his office subsequently clarified that he supports a full investigation.
The letter described the Minab school attack as “horrific,” noting that the majority of those killed were girls between the ages of seven and twelve, and questioned whether US Tomahawk missiles struck the school as a result of a targeting failure involving outdated intelligence from the Defence Intelligence Agency. “The United States is a party to the Geneva Conventions and bound by international humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution,” the senators wrote, warning that Hegseth’s public comments about conducting the operation with “no stupid rules of engagement” sent a dangerous signal. “This rhetoric only serves to endanger civilians,” they wrote.
A preliminary Pentagon investigation, reported by the New York Times, found the strike was likely a targeting mistake — officers at US Central Command had used outdated DIA data in the planning process, unaware the school building was no longer part of an adjacent Iranian military base. Despite this finding, Trump initially told reporters he didn’t know enough about the strike, having previously accused Iran of bombing its own civilians.
The broader statistics cited in the letter put the civilian toll at over 1,245 dead and more than 12,000 injured as of early March, a figure drawn from the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. The senators also raised concerns about reported strikes on hospitals, cultural heritage sites and critical urban infrastructure including in Tehran.
The pressure campaign has since expanded beyond letters. House Democrats separately moved to introduce articles of impeachment against Hegseth in mid-April, citing unauthorised military action, violations of the law of armed conflict, and mishandling of classified information including use of unsecured communications. Impeachment would require a House majority and two-thirds Senate vote — thresholds Democrats do not have — but the effort keeps the civilian harm allegations at the centre of the political debate as the war’s ceasefire status remains uncertain.
