UN experts cite possible US war crimes in two Iran strikes

A UN fact-finding mission said there were reasonable grounds to believe two US strikes in Iran were indiscriminate and amounted to war crimes, including an attack on a school. The mission also accused Iranian authorities of crimes against humanity during protests, while Washington rejected the findings through statements from the Pentagon and White House.

Experts from the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, established by the UN Human Rights Council, said they found reasonable grounds to believe that US forces committed war crimes in two strikes in Iran. One of the attacks hit Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab on February 28, while the other struck a sports center in Larned on the same day.

According to the report, the Minab school was clearly a civilian facility and investigators found no evidence that it was being used for military purposes. Iranian officials said more than 150 people were killed, including about 120 schoolchildren. The mission concluded that the attack was indiscriminate, causing civilian deaths and damage to civilian infrastructure, which it said constituted a war crime under international law.

The mission reached a similar conclusion about the Larned strike. It said the attack damaged nearby residential buildings and a school and killed or injured 22 civilians. The report described the strike as indiscriminate and therefore a war crime. In a March statement, US Central Command said US forces did not launch strikes into the city of Lamerd that day.

The Pentagon declined to comment directly on the findings, saying its investigation remained ongoing and that it had nothing to announce. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly condemned the UN human rights body and said Iran was the only party in the conflict that had committed war crimes. The report is not binding, but the mission said its findings could contribute to evidence used in possible legal cases before international courts.

The investigation also examined Iran's response to nationwide unrest that began in late December. UN experts accused Iranian authorities of widespread and systematic attacks against civilians, including unlawful killings, torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances and severe restrictions on freedom of expression. The mission said it could not independently verify the death toll, but believed deaths and injuries were likely much higher than the official figures of 3,038 deaths and 25,000 injuries. The experts were expected to present their findings to the 47-member Human Rights Council.