U.N. Panel Says U.S. Strikes on Iran May Be War Crimes

A United Nations fact-finding body said Thursday there are reasonable grounds to believe the United States committed war crimes in two air strikes on Feb. 28, the opening day of the U.S.-Israel war against Iran.

The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran reviewed a Tomahawk missile strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab, which local authorities said killed at least 156 people — about 120 of them children. Investigators also examined a second strike in Lamerd, where Precision Strike Missiles dispersed tungsten pellets over a sports complex and nearby homes, killing at least 21 civilians, including seven children.

In both cases, the mission said the sites were clearly civilian — a school and a sports complex — and that nothing in the evidence showed either had been used for military purposes. Photos taken before the Minab strike showed children's murals on the school's exterior, playground areas and children in the courtyard. Survivors said the school was hit twice.

"The Mission concluded that when identifying and directing its attack against the primary school in Minab, whose civilian nature is apparent, the US failed in its obligation to do everything feasible to verify that it was a military objective," the report said.

For Lamerd, investigators said the sports complex sat visibly apart from a nearby Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps facility. U.S. Central Command has said it conducted no strikes in Lamerd that day and disputes the weapon identification. The Pentagon has not released findings from its own Minab inquiry. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said U.S. forces would "never target civilian targets."

In June, President Donald Trump said "nobody" purposefully struck a girls' school in Iran, citing an ongoing internal review.

The mission also accused Iranian authorities of crimes against humanity for crushing nationwide protests in late 2025 and early 2026, saying security-force killings occurred on a "staggering and unprecedented scale" across all 31 provinces. Tehran has rejected allegations of systematic human-rights violations.

The report goes to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The findings are not legally binding but could increase pressure on Washington to account for the strikes.

The conclusions land as the administration manages ongoing hostilities with Iran and prepares for next week's UN General Assembly in New York, where leaders from both countries are expected. Trump said this week he faces a "big decision coming up" on Iran and voiced hope the war is nearing its end.