Experts from an Independent International Fact-Finding Mission commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council have determined there are “reasonable grounds” to believe the United States committed war crimes during two military strikes in Iran. The findings, detailed in a report released Thursday, also accuse Iran’s theocratic government of perpetrating crimes against humanity against its own population.
The mission, established in 2022 and chaired by Bangladeshi jurist Sara Hossain, concluded that US forces were responsible for an attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab on February 28. Iranian officials reported that more than 150 people died in the strike, approximately 120 of whom were schoolchildren. The UN experts stated the attack was indiscriminate, resulting in civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure, which constitutes a war crime under international law. They found no evidence that the school was being used for military purposes.
A separate conclusion regarding a strike on a sports center in Lamerd on the same date identified similar violations. The report noted that the attack damaged nearby residential buildings and a school, killing and injuring 22 civilians. While the report labeled the strike indiscriminate, US Central Command had previously stated in March that American forces did not launch any strikes into Lamerd that day.
The report is expected to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council on Monday. Although the findings are not legally binding, they contribute to the body of international evidence regarding the Iran war, which began in February, and could potentially support future legal proceedings in international courts.
In response to the report, the Pentagon declined to comment, stating that their own investigation remains ongoing. The White House, however, issued a sharp rebuke through spokesperson Anna Kelly, who accused the UN human rights body of producing “unserious nonsense” for decades. Kelly asserted that the Iranian regime is the sole party responsible for war crimes, citing its killing of Americans overseas and indiscriminate attacks against regional neighbors.
Beyond the US strikes, the UN probe examined Iran’s crackdown on nationwide protests that erupted in late December. The mission found evidence of widespread and systematic attacks on civilians, including unlawful killings, torture, arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and severe restrictions on freedom of expression. While Tehran has attributed the unrest to terrorists and rioters backed by foreign adversaries, human rights groups indicate that bystanders were among those killed. The UN believes the actual death toll is likely far higher than the official government count of 3,038 deaths and 25,000 injuries.
Both sides being accused creates a strange moral equivalence, but civilian deaths remain the tragic core here.
I wonder how much weight these findings actually carry without binding legal consequences behind them?
The Pentagon refuses to comment while this finding drops? Something feels off about their investigation process.
This report is deeply troubling. Indiscriminate attacks on schools are unacceptable under any circumstances.