Karoline Leavitt Says U.S. Did Not Kill 175 People At Iranian Girls School 'That We Know Of'

The press secretary suggested during the briefing that many in the White House Press Corps had "fallen for" Iranian "propaganda."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back on reports that the initial strikes from Israeli and United States forces on Iran struck a girls’ school, killing up to 175 people, most of them schoolgirls between the ages of 7 and 12 years old.

“Not that we know of,” Leavitt responded when asked during Wednesday’s briefing if the Trump administration was aware of the apparent strike, and appeared to suggest the reports were “propaganda” from Iranian state media.

“The Department of War is investigating this matter,” Leavitt said. “And I would just tell you very strongly the United States of America does not target civilians, unlike the rogue Iranian regime that targets civilians, that kills children, that has killed thousands of their own people in the past several weeks and uses propaganda quite effectively, and unfortunately, many people in this room have fallen for that propaganda.”

Iranian state media and Iranian health officials reported the strike took place early Saturday morning in Minab, in the country’s southern Hormozgan province. Journalists from international news organizations have not been given access to independently verify the death toll or the circumstances surrounding the strike. Neither the U.S. nor Israel has claimed responsibility for the attack.

However, video footage from the alleged incident has emerged, showing black smoke rising from a damaged building adorned with murals of crayons, children and an apple. CBS News was able to geolocate the video to a building in Minab. Iranian state media has identified that building as Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school. Iran’s school week runs from Saturday to Thursday, and students were in the middle of their morning session when the strike occurred.