Members of President Donald Trump's administration told Congress at closed-door briefings that US military forces carried out strikes in the area of Iran where a girls' school was destroyed, NBC News reports, citing two informed sources.

US officials told Congress they know Israel did not strike the school. They acknowledged that American military forces were operating in the area of the school in Minab and offered no alternative theories as to who may have struck it.

Earlier, Reuters, citing sources, reported that US military investigators believe the strike on the school was carried out by US forces — though this is not yet a final conclusion of the investigation.

Satellite images and verified footage from the scene suggest the strikes were deliberate, but available data does not allow determining exactly who carried them out.

According to Iranian authorities, at least 168 people were killed in the strikes on the school on the first day of the war — mostly female students. The school is located adjacent to an IRGC base but separated from it by a wall, satellite images show.