Μake us preferred on Google A U.N. fact-finding mission said Thursday there were reasonable grounds to believe U.S. forces committed war crimes in Iran during two strikes in February, while Iranian authorities carried out crimes against humanity in a deadly crackdown on anti-government protests.
The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran said U.S. forces were responsible for strikes on a primary school in Minab and a sports facility in Lamerd. The findings will be presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The report examined U.S. military conduct during the war with Iran that began in February, as well as the Iranian government’s response to nationwide protests that began in late December.
A picture of Elham Zaeri, one of the athletes who was killed in a strike on the Lamerd sports hall on February 28, on her grave, in Lamerd, Iran, September 12, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. ISRAEL OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN ISRAEL. NO ACCESS FOR ISRAELI MEDIA. NO USE BBC PERSIAN. NO USE VOA PERSIAN. NO USE MANOTO. NO USE IRAN INTERNATIONAL. NO USE RADIO FARDA. DIGITAL: NO USE BBC PERSIAN. NO USE VOA PERSIAN. NO USE MANOTO. NO USE IRAN INTERNATIONAL. NO USE RADIO FARDA.
The U.S. and Iranian permanent missions in Geneva did not immediately respond to requests for comment to Reuters. U.S. officials have previously said American military operations comply with the law of armed conflict, while Iran has repeatedly rejected allegations of systematic human rights violations.
U.N. Says Minab School Strike Was a War Crime
The mission said there were reasonable grounds to believe U.S. forces carried out the strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab, where Iranian officials said more than 150 people were killed, including about 120 schoolchildren.
Investigators concluded that the attack was indiscriminate and caused civilian deaths and damage to civilian infrastructure, making it a war crime under international law.
FILE PHOTO: The Minab school, which was damaged in a strike on February 28, in Minab, Iran, August 27, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. ISRAEL OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN ISRAEL. NO ACCESS FOR ISRAELI MEDIA. NO USE BBC PERSIAN. NO USE VOA PERSIAN. NO USE MANOTO. NO USE IRAN INTERNATIONAL. NO USE RADIO FARDA. DIGITAL: NO USE BBC PERSIAN. NO USE VOA PERSIAN. NO USE MANOTO. NO USE IRAN INTERNATIONAL. NO USE RADIO FARDA./File Photo
According to the report, U.S. forces acted on intelligence indicating that a senior Iranian military commander was at the location. However, investigators said the information was not adequately verified before the strike.
The mission said U.S. forces failed to update their targeting intelligence and confirm that the building was a legitimate military objective. It concluded that the conduct went beyond simple negligence, finding that the school was targeted despite a substantial risk that it was a civilian facility.
The U.N. experts said the school was clearly identifiable as a civilian object and found no evidence that it was being used for military purposes.
Mother of Abdul Jabbar, an Afghan national who along with his family recently returned from Iran where they lived for nearly four decades, sits in her house in Farah province, Afghanistan, September 1, 2026. REUTERS/Sayed Hassib TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
In June, President Donald Trump said that “nobody” had deliberately attacked a girls’ school in Iran in February, citing an investigation into the incident. Reuters previously reported that an initial U.S. military investigation indicated American forces were likely responsible for the fatal strike.
The Pentagon has since expanded its investigation but has not released preliminary findings.
Lamerd Strike Also Deemed Indiscriminate
The U.N. mission reached a similar conclusion regarding a strike on a sports center in Lamerd.
A woman talks on her cellphone as she walks past a billboard showing Rais Ali Delvari, a national hero in an early 1900 uprising against British forces in southern Iran in the Persian Gulf, right, and the late Revolutionary Guard’s navy chief Alireza Tangsiri, who was killed in the U.S.-Israeli strike in late March 2026, commanding the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, on a building at a square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
The report said the attack damaged nearby homes and a school and killed or injured 22 civilians. Investigators determined that the strike was indiscriminate and therefore constituted a war crime.
U.S. Central Command said in March that American forces had not carried out any strikes in Lamerd on the day in question.
Iran Accused of Crimes Against Humanity
The fact-finding mission also accused Iranian authorities of carrying out a widespread and systematic attack against civilians during protests that began in late December.
The alleged abuses included unlawful killings, torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances and severe restrictions on freedom of expression.
FILE PHOTO: Students stand by a poster of Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi as they parade at Sanaa University campus to show support for the Houthis amid an escalation with Saudi Arabia, in Sanaa, Yemen July 22, 2026. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah/File Photo
Rights groups have described the unrest as the largest crackdown in Iran since Shi’ite Muslim clerics came to power in the 1979 revolution. Bystanders were among those reportedly killed.
Iranian authorities have blamed what they called “terrorists and rioters” backed by opponents living abroad as well as the United States and Israel.
The U.N. investigators said they were unable to independently verify the death toll. However, they concluded that the number of people killed and injured was likely substantially higher than official figures, which put the toll at 3,038 deaths and 25,000 injuries.
The report said the government’s response, including killings and other violence, an internet shutdown and use of the death penalty, represented a significant escalation compared with previous patterns of suppressing dissent.
