WASHINGTON, March 10. /TASS/. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth believes that the international community does not sufficiently appreciate the US’ efforts to prevent civilian casualties in conflicts initiated by Washington.

"No nation takes more precautions to ensure there's never targeting of civilians than the US. <…> Frankly, that's a point that just isn't appreciated enough," he said at a press conference, commenting on the measures taken by the US to prevent civilian casualties, including in light of the strike on a girls' elementary school in the Iranian city of Minab.

"We will investigate. <…> It's not open source; it's not the place to determine what did or did not happen," Hegseth said. "We take things very, very seriously and investigate them thoroughly, which takes time," the top defense official emphasized.

He also accused Iran of placing missile weapons in residential areas and striking civilians in other countries. "They set the targeting of drones and missiles toward civilian targets, hospitals, hotels, airports. <…> They target civilians. We do not," Hegseth said.

On February 28, Iranian authorities reported that the US and Israel had struck a girls' elementary school in the southern city of Minab. According to Tehran, 165 people were killed, primarily students, as well as parents and teachers. Another 95 people were injured.