Former CIA chief and retired General David Petraeus said a human, rather than an artificial intelligence system, made the final decision in the missile strike on Shajarah Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, southern Iran. He made the remarks at the NDTV World Summit 2026.
The attack reportedly killed at least 156 people. Petraeus said artificial intelligence helped locate and target the site, but a person was responsible for authorising the strike. His explanation challenges an earlier media account that attributed the deaths of 123 children to an AI-driven military “kill chain”.
Petraeus was asked about the bombing of the girls' school during the summit. He said he supported highly precise military operations using AI, while stressing that the machine had not independently chosen the target or made the decision to attack.
What Petraeus said about human control
According to Petraeus, AI assisted with finding and aiming at the target, while the final decision remained with a human. His comments place responsibility for the strike's authorisation with a military decision-maker, rather than presenting the system as an autonomous actor.
He also backed military technology operating within narrowly defined safeguards and instructions created by people. In his view, commanders who rely on AI for important decisions must give comparable attention to doubts raised by critics of those systems.
The remarks come amid growing use of AI in military operations. They also underline the distinction between software that processes information and the officials who approve the use of force.
How the reported targeting error happened
A recent investigative report by Bloomberg described the reported chronology behind the strike. Before the war began, the US military had been assigned to prepare a list of Iranian military sites that could be destroyed before Tehran launched a retaliatory attack.
The report said naval facilities linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were given high priority because of their presence in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. Some officials at US Central Command relied heavily on the Maven Smart System, an AI platform developed by Palantir Technologies, to identify possible targets and help plan the opening attack.
The digital process used to approve targets is known as a “kill chain”. The Minab school had been built nearly a decade earlier on land that previously housed an IRGC naval unit. However, the military's older database was reportedly not updated.
As a result, the Maven AI system reportedly treated the school as an active IRGC military site and placed it on the list of main targets for the first day. The account describes the incident as a failure involving outdated information, automated analysis and human approval.
The system connects more than 150 separate data inputs to simplify complex battlefield information and assist commanders. Traditionally, target approval involved intelligence analysts, legal experts, military commanders and weapons specialists, a process that could take hours. The AI tool reduced that work to minutes, according to the report.
That speed did not remove the need for human judgement. Petraeus's comments indicate that a person still made the final decision, even though the system helped produce the target information.
Conclusion
Petraeus said AI supported the identification and targeting process, but a human approved the strike. The reported deaths at the Minab school have focused attention on outdated military databases, accelerated targeting systems and the safeguards governing human decisions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Where did the strike take place?
The strike took place at Shajarah Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, a city in southern Iran.
Q. How many deaths were reported?
The attack was reported to have killed at least 156 people.
Q. Who did Petraeus say made the final decision?
Petraeus said a human made the final decision to launch the attack.
Q. What role did AI reportedly play?
AI reportedly helped identify and target the site, but Petraeus said it did not make the final attack decision.
Q. What is the Maven Smart System?
The Maven Smart System is an AI platform developed by Palantir Technologies and used in the reported targeting process.
Q. Why was the school reportedly identified as a military site?
The school stood on land that had previously housed an IRGC naval unit, while an older military database was reportedly not updated.
Q. What does “kill chain” refer to in this report?
It refers to the digital process used to identify and approve military targets.
Q. What did Petraeus say about safeguards?
He supported systems operating under specific safeguards and instructions programmed by humans, while urging commanders to consider criticism of AI systems.
