UN mission says US strikes on Iranian school and sports facility may constitute war crimes

Minab, Iran. A UN fact-finding mission said it had reasonable grounds to believe the United States was responsible for two military strikes on a school and sports facility in Iran in February, concluding that the attacks constituted war crimes. The mission also said Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity during a deadly crackdown on anti-government protests.

UN report

The findings are contained in a new report by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, which is to be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The report examined US conduct during the Iran war that began in February and the Iranian government’s response to nationwide unrest that began in late December.

The Iranian and US permanent missions in Geneva did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Minab school strike

UN experts said they found reasonable grounds to believe US forces were responsible for an attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab, where more than 150 people were killed, including about 120 schoolchildren, according to Iranian officials.

The mission concluded that the attack was indiscriminate, causing civilian deaths and damage to civilian infrastructure, and amounted to a war crime under international law.

According to the report, the United States relied on intelligence indicating that a senior Iranian military commander was at the site but did not adequately verify that information before launching the strike.

Investigators said the failure to update targeting intelligence and confirm that the building was a military objective amounted to more than mere negligence.

“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 report said.

Previous responses

US officials have previously said military operations are conducted in accordance with the law of armed conflict. Iran has consistently rejected allegations of systematic rights violations.

In June, US President Donald Trump said that “nobody” purposefully attacked a girls’ school in Iran in February, citing an investigation into the incident.

Reuters previously reported that an initial internal US military investigation found that US forces were likely responsible for the fatal strike in Minab, southern Iran.