UN experts level explosive war crimes accusation at US over Trump’s Iran strikes

Human rights experts appointed by the United Nations’ top rights body say they have established "reasonable grounds" to believe the United States committed war crimes during two military strikes in Iran earlier this year, including an attack on an elementary school in the southern city of Minab.

The findings, published by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, center on a pair of late-February bombardments that resulted in the deaths of at least 178 civilians, including women and children. The report will be formally submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

During the onset of the US-Israeli conflict against Iran in February, Tomahawk missiles struck the "clearly identifiable" Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab.

Iranian officials stated that more than 150 people were killed in the strike, including around 120 schoolchildren, while state media placed the total death toll at 168. No final public accounting of the incident has been released.

"Following the United States and Israeli attacks on 28 February, the mission found reasonable grounds to believe the United States committed the war crime of launching indiscriminate attacks resulting in the loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects," the fact-finding team said in a statement.

According to the report, American forces relied on intelligence suggesting a senior Iranian military commander was present at the school. However, military planners failed to adequately re-verify the information or confirm the location remained a valid military objective prior to launching the strike.

Investigators noted that this failure extended beyond mere negligence, writing: "Rather, the US directed the strikes at the building of the school while being aware of a substantial risk of striking a civilian object and acting recklessly as regards the possibility that this would happen."

The Trump administration has yet to directly accept responsibility or publish the findings of a Pentagon inquiry into the bombing.

In June, President Donald Trump stated that "nobody" purposefully attacked a girls' school in Iran, citing an investigation into the event. While an initial internal US military assessment indicated American forces were likely responsible, the Pentagon elevated the probe without releasing preliminary results.

The UN-backed panel also cited war crime allegations regarding a second Feb. 28 bombardment, where precision strike missiles dispersed tungsten pellets over a "clearly identifiable sports complex and residential area" in Lamerd.

The attack damaged nearby residential structures and a school, killing or injuring 22 civilian men and women. US Central Command has denied launching any strikes into Lamerd on that date.

Additionally, the report documented that killings by state security forces occurred on a "staggering scale" in Iran, concluding that Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity during a crackdown on nationwide anti-government protests that erupted in late December.

The panel detailed widespread abuses by Iranian authorities, including unlawful killings, torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, and severe restrictions on freedom of expression.

UN experts noted they could not independently verify the complete death toll, but believed actual casualties far exceeded official government figures of 3,038 dead and 25,000 injured.

Tehran attributed the unrest to "terrorists and rioters" backed by foreign adversaries, including Israel and the US.

However, investigators emphasized that Iranian civilians were trapped between "gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity committed by their own government and the nation’s deadly conflict with the United States and Israel."

The Human Rights Council established the fact-finding mission in 2022, chaired by Bangladeshi jurist Sara Hossain, and it comprises independent experts. Neither the US nor the Iranian permanent missions in Geneva immediately responded to requests for comment.

US officials have previously maintained that military operations comply with the law of armed conflict, while Tehran routinely denies allegations of systematic human rights violations.