UN: US strikes on Iranian school and sports centre constitute war crimes

An independent United Nations fact‑finding mission has concluded there are credible grounds to believe that two strikes carried out by United States forces in Iran in February amount to war crimes, and at the same time found evidence that Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity during the deadly suppression of anti‑government protests.

Key findings and next steps

The findings appear in a report by the Independent International Fact‑Finding Mission on Iran that will be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The mission reviewed both the conduct of US forces during the war that began in February and the Iranian government's response to unrest that erupted at the end of December.

The mission said it had identified credible grounds to believe US forces were responsible for the strike on Shajareh Tayebeh Primary School in the city of Minab, which Iranian official figures place at more than 150 killed, including about 120 pupils. The mission concluded the attack was indiscriminate, caused civilian deaths and damage to civilian infrastructure and therefore constitutes a war crime under international law.

According to the report, failures to update targeting databases about the school's proximity to a naval complex of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and to verify whether the structure was a lawful military objective amounted to more than mere negligence. The mission quotes the report: "On the contrary, the United States directed the strikes at the school building despite awareness of the substantial risk of striking a civilian object, acting recklessly with respect to the possibility that this would occur."

The mission reached a similar conclusion about the strike on a sports centre in Lamerd, saying the attack damaged nearby residential buildings and a school and left 22 civilians killed or wounded. The US Central Command told the public in March that US forces had not carried out strikes on Lamerd on that day. The Pentagon later expanded its inquiry but has not released preliminary findings.

Turning to the domestic unrest, the fact‑finding team determined that Iranian authorities carried out a widespread and systematic attack on civilians during the late‑December protests, including unlawful killings, torture, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and severe restrictions on freedom of expression. The mission said it could not independently verify the total number of victims, but judged that fatalities and injuries were likely substantially higher than official figures, which list 3,038 dead and about 25,000 injured. The report said measures used to suppress dissent — including lethal force, internet shutdowns and application of the death penalty — marked a significant escalation compared with previous patterns of repression.

Photo: press material from the event