US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that US Central Command has designated an investigating officer to lead a command inquiry into a strike on a girls school in Iran, as questions mount about the circumstances surrounding the attack.

“So, I can report that CENTCOM has designated an investigating officer to complete a command investigation,” Hegseth announced during a Pentagon press briefing, The Caspian Post reports, citing CNN.

“The command investigation will take as long as necessary to address all the matters surrounding this incident. And the investigating officer is from outside CENTCOM and is a general officer,” he added.

When asked about reporting that preliminary findings of a military investigation suggest the United States may have carried out the strike, Hegseth declined to confirm the details.

“We’re not going to let reporting lead us or force our hand into indicating what happened in a particular situation, because the truth matters,” Hegseth said.

“But I will note to this group and to the world, there’s only one entity in this conflict between US and Iran that never targets civilians. Literally never target civilians,” he added.

The secretary’s comments come as sources briefed on early findings of the investigation told CNN that the US military may have accidentally struck the Iranian elementary school while targeting a nearby facility tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.