Arabic version: بعثة أممية تشير إلى احتمال ارتكاب الولايات المتحدة جرائم حرب في إيران
According to Al Jazeera, the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran found that the United States likely committed “war crimes” through two air strikes in Iran that killed at least 178 civilians, including women and children. Its findings are due to be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and examine US conduct during the war as well as Iran’s response to nationwide unrest.
The mission cited the February 28 attack on Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab, which killed more than 150 people, including about 120 children. It said the strike used Tomahawk missiles and concluded that the US failed to do everything feasible to verify that the apparently civilian school was a military objective. The report said photographs and videos showed features including child-oriented murals, school signage and playgrounds. It added that satellite imagery appeared to show children gathered in the courtyard before the attack.
The report also addressed a February 28 strike on a sports complex and residential area in Lamerd, where precision missiles dispersed tungsten pellets and killed 22 civilian men and women. The mission said the sports centre was “visibly separate” from a nearby compound belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. US Central Command said in March that US forces had not launched strikes into Lamerd that day. In June, President Donald Trump said nobody had purposefully attacked a girls’ school in Iran, while the Pentagon had not published findings from its investigation.
The UN mission additionally accused Iran of human rights violations and crimes against humanity during protests in 2025 and early 2026. It cited an internet shutdown, unlawful killings, torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances and severe limits on freedom of expression. The mission said deaths and injuries by state forces were likely higher than the government’s reported toll of 3,038 killed and 25,000 injured, though it could not verify exact figures. It urged Iran and the US to end hostilities, provide reparations to victims and pursue permanent peace through diplomacy.
