U.N. Experts Cite Reasonable Grounds for U.S. War Crimes in Iran Strikes

Geneva — Human rights experts appointed by the United Nations’ premier human rights body have concluded that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe the United States committed war crimes during two military strikes in Iran. The findings, released by the international fact-finding mission on Iran, focus on attacks that resulted in significant civilian casualties, including among women and children.

The mission’s statement highlighted an airstrike on a school in the southern city of Minab. According to preliminary U.S. assessments reviewed by CBS News, American forces were “likely” responsible for the February attack but did not intentionally target the educational facility. Instead, officials believe the school may have been struck in error due to outdated intelligence that incorrectly classified the area as part of an active Iranian military installation.

Iranian state media and health officials reported that approximately 170 people died in the Minab attack, most of them schoolgirls aged between 7 and 12. The U.N. team stated that the school was “clearly identifiable” and determined that the U.S. committed the war crime of launching indiscriminate attacks causing loss of life or injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects.

The report also addressed a missile strike on Feb. 28 in the nearby city of Lamerd, where tungsten pellets were dispersed over a sports complex and residential area. The fact-finding team alleged this attack killed 22 civilian men and women. However, U.S. Central Command has denied responsibility for the Lamerd strike.

While the Trump administration has not officially accepted responsibility or published the results of a Pentagon investigation into the Minab school attack, the U.N. mission emphasized the severity of the civilian toll. Tomahawk missiles were used in the initial strikes on the first day of the conflict.

In addition to examining U.S. actions, the mission criticized Iran’s state security forces for killings on a “staggering scale” during a January crackdown on nationwide anti-government protests. The experts alleged these actions amounted to crimes against humanity, noting that Iranian civilians are caught between gross human rights violations by their own government and the lethal conflict with the United States and Israel.

Chaired by Bangladeshi jurist Sara Hossain, the independent expert panel was established by the Human Rights Council in 2022 to monitor the situation in Iran.