Hyderabad, March 12 -- A preliminary investigation by the United States military has found that a missile strike which hit an elementary school in southern Iran in February was likely caused by a targeting mistake by US forces, The New York Times reported.

Citing unnamed US officials and others familiar with the early findings, the report said the February 28 strike destroyed the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school in Minab after it was mistakenly classified as a military target.

Iranian authorities said at least 175 people, most of them children, were killed in the attack.

According to the report, the strike was carried out during operations targeting nearby facilities used by the naval wing of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp...