A UN-mandated fact-finding mission says it has reasonable grounds to believe United States forces carried out two strikes in Iran in February that amounted to war crimes. The independent investigators also concluded that Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity in their response to anti-government protests.
The mission’s findings, released on Thursday, concern an attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab and a strike on a sports complex and nearby residential area in Lamerd. The investigators said the school was clearly identifiable as a civilian site and found no evidence that it was being used for military purposes. More than 150 people, including about 120 schoolchildren, died in the Minab attack, according to Iranian officials. Civilian casualties were also reported in Lamerd.
The investigators concluded that the Minab school was the intended point of impact, rather than being damaged by a missile that strayed from an adjacent military compound. They said the United States had failed to verify that the building was a military target. Their conclusion represents an investigative finding under a “reasonable grounds” standard, not a judgment by a court.
The US has not accepted responsibility for the Minab school strike or released the results of its Pentagon investigation. US Central Command has denied that its forces struck Lamerd on the day in question. US officials have previously said their operations comply with the law of armed conflict; their Geneva mission did not immediately answer Reuters’ request for comment on the new report.
The same fact-finding mission found that Iranian security forces’ response to protests included unlawful killings, torture, arbitrary detention and other serious abuses. It said many of those acts formed part of a widespread and systematic attack on civilians. Iran has rejected allegations of systematic rights violations.
The mission was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council and is expected to present its report to the council on Monday. It has no power to bring criminal charges itself, but its evidence may be relevant to later legal proceedings.
Sources: Reuters, 17 September 2026; The Associated Press; Sky News.