Hegseth says US military has designated officer to complete probe on Iran school strike

WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - The United States has designated an officer outside of U.S. Central Command to complete an investigation on a strike on an Iranian school, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday.

"I can report that CENTCOM has designated an investigating officer to complete a command investigation," Hegseth told a press briefing.

Reuters first reported last week that an ongoing, internal U.S. military investigation showed U.S. forces were likely responsible for the strike on the girls' school in southern Iran.

"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," Hegseth said.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali, writing by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Daphne Psaledakis)