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U.N.-commissioned human rights experts say they found “reasonable grounds” to believe the United States committed war crimes in two February airstrikes in Iran, including a missile attack on a school in the southern city of Minab that killed civilians.
The independent fact-finding mission also accused Iran’s government of crimes against humanity, citing killings, torture, arbitrary detention and other abuses carried out during a broader crackdown on civilians.
The findings, released Thursday, are not legally binding. But the report adds to a growing body of evidence that could eventually be used in international accountability efforts. The mission is mandated by the U.N. Human Rights Council, the organization’s top human rights body.
U.N. Experts Cite Two U.S. Strikes
The mission said the two U.S. strikes killed at least 178 civilians, including women and children.
One involved Tomahawk missiles that struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab on Feb. 28, according to the investigators. The experts concluded that the school itself was the intended point of impact and said the destruction was not caused by an errant missile or collateral damage from a nearby Iranian Revolutionary Guard compound.
Iranian state media previously reported that 168 people were killed in the school strike, most of them children. An Associated Press investigation also documented the attack.
The second strike involved Precision Strike Missiles that dispersed tungsten pellets over a sports complex and residential area in Lamerd, also on Feb. 28. The U.N.-backed team said 22 civilians were killed. U.S. Central Command has denied responsibility for the Lamerd strike.
The investigators characterized the attacks as indiscriminate strikes resulting in civilian deaths and damage to civilian objects.
The U.S. government did not provide information or agree to meetings requested by the mission, according to the report. The White House has rejected the findings, with a spokesperson dismissing them as “unserious nonsense” and accusing Iran of committing war crimes.
Mission Accuses Iran of Crimes Against Humanity
The investigators also said Iranian security forces carried out widespread and systematic abuses against civilians over the past two years.
The report cites security forces firing on crowds, beating protesters, conducting mass arrests and torturing detainees. Healthcare workers were among those arrested, while some detainees were denied access to lawyers and their families were left without information about their whereabouts.
The mission also raised concerns about Iran’s expanded use of the death penalty, saying more than 70 people, including five women and three boys, faced an imminent risk of execution.
The experts said many of the violations amounted to crimes against humanity, including murder, imprisonment, torture and other inhumane acts committed as part of what they described as a widespread and systematic attack on civilians.
Evidence Could Support Future Accountability Efforts
The fact-finding mission, chaired by Bangladeshi jurist Sara Hossain, said its findings were based on interviews with 73 people inside and outside Iran, as well as satellite imagery, photographs, videos and material from credible organizations and experts.
The investigation was complicated by the ongoing conflict, displacement inside Iran, an internet shutdown and limited cooperation from both governments. The experts said nearly three dozen requests for information sent to Iran went unanswered, while U.S. officials did not respond to requests made in June for information and meetings.
The experts called on both governments to halt human rights violations and provide full reparations to victims.
The report does not itself establish criminal liability in an international court. Its findings instead preserve evidence and document alleged violations that could inform future legal or accountability proceedings.
The U.N. Human Rights Council is expected to consider the findings as part of its review of the situation in Iran.
