UN Fact-Finding Mission Iran Finds US Committed War Crimes

UN – (Special Correspondent/Web Desk) – A new report from the UN fact-finding mission Iran investigation says there are strong grounds to believe the United States carried out two military strikes on a school and a sports centre in Iran back in February. The mission says these attacks broke the rules of war.

The same report also says Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity while cracking down on anti-government protests. The findings will soon go to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

So far, neither the Iranian nor the US missions in Geneva have replied to requests for comment.

What Happened at the School

The report focuses heavily on an attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in the city of Minab. Iranian officials say more than 150 people died there, and around 120 of them were schoolchildren.

Investigators say the strike hit ordinary civilians and civilian buildings without care, which counts as a war crime under international law.

The school sat close to a naval base run by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. But the report says US forces failed to update their targeting information and did not confirm whether the school was truly a military target.

The mission believes this went beyond simple carelessness. It says US forces launched the strike while knowing there was a real risk of hitting a civilian building, and did so recklessly.

Back in June, President Trump said no one had deliberately targeted a girls’ school in Iran, pointing to an ongoing investigation. Earlier reporting had already suggested US forces were likely behind the deadly Minab strike. The Pentagon later raised the level of its own probe but has not shared any results yet.

The Lamerd Sports Centre Strike

Investigators reached a similar conclusion about a second strike, this one on a sports centre in Lamerd. That attack damaged nearby homes and a school, and killed or hurt 22 civilians.

The mission again called the strike indiscriminate, meaning it did not properly separate civilian areas from military ones. It also labeled this a war crime.

US Central Command has said its forces did not strike Lamerd that day, denying involvement.

Iran’s Crackdown on Protesters

The report also looks closely at how Iran’s government responded to nationwide protests that began late last December. It says Iranian security forces carried out a wide and organized attack on civilians.

This reportedly included unlawful killings, torture, people being taken away and never accounted for, and harsh limits on free speech.

Rights groups say many bystanders were caught up in the violence, calling it the harshest crackdown since Iran’s 1979 revolution. Iranian officials have blamed the unrest on rioters backed by foreign enemies, including the US and Israel.

The mission says it cannot confirm exact numbers, but believes the real death and injury toll is likely much higher than Iran’s official count of 3,038 dead and 25,000 injured.

Investigators also point to Iran cutting off internet access and increasing use of the death penalty as signs the government’s response grew far more severe than in past crackdowns.