A United Nations fact-finding mission has concluded that two deadly US strikes on Iran during the opening salvo of the war, including one that hit an elementary school, may have been war crimes. The report by the independent investigators found that at least 156 people, including 120 children and 26 teachers, were killed when the school in the southern city of Minab was struck on February 28. This incident would be considered one of the worst civilian casualty incidents in recent US military history.
The investigators also examined a second US strike on the same day, which hit a sports center and residential area in the southern city of Lamerd, killing 22 civilians. In both strikes, investigators “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 report will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council and could be used by international courts like the International Criminal Court.
The US has responded to the report, with White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly stating that the only party in this conflict that has committed war crimes is the Iranian regime. The US State Department official also expressed skepticism about the report's findings, pointing out that President Donald Trump had formally withdrawn the US from the UN Human Rights Council in February 2025. The Department of Defense declined to comment, beyond noting that an investigation was ongoing.
The report was compiled by a team of independent investigators who analyzed satellite imagery, video and photos, information from credible organizations and experts, and conducted dozens of interviews both in and outside Iran. The investigators asked for unhindered access to Iran, which the Iranian government did not grant. Of all the UN’s information requests, Iran only responded to about a quarter, the report said.
The UN fact-finding mission’s report also analyzed Iran’s repression of anti-government protesters in late 2025 and early 2026, before the war with the US kicked off. The brutal crackdown killed thousands of people, while detainees were tortured and “disappeared” without notification to their families, it found. These “gross violations amount to crimes against humanity,” the investigators said, describing the crackdown as “a widespread and systematic attack on civilians.”
The school strike in Minab was found to have been caused by outdated intelligence provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency, which contributed to the mistake. Satellite imagery from 2013 showed that the school and the IRGC base were once part of the same compound, but images from 2016 revealed that a fence had been erected to separate the school from the rest of the base. The US failed in its obligation to do everything feasible to verify that it was a military objective.
The US military's internal investigation into the strike has been stuck in limbo for months, with sources familiar with the matter stating that the third stage of the investigation, where Defense Intelligence Agency analysts review satellite imagery and other intelligence sources, has not yet been ordered by the Pentagon. Another independent investigation was separately launched, which included interviews with military service members involved in the strike, but any information gleaned from those interviews has been “locked down” by US Central Command.
Key points
- The UN report finds reasonable grounds to believe the US committed war crimes in strikes on Iran school and sports center.
- The US strikes killed at least 178 civilians, including 120 children and 26 teachers.
- The report also found that Iran may have committed crimes against humanity in its crackdown against government protesters.
