A report released on the 17th by the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran states there are reasonable grounds to believe that two attacks launched by the United States against Iran constituted war crimes; the report also concludes that Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity during the crackdown on large-scale anti-government protests in January.
According to a BBC report, three independent experts from the fact-finding mission noted in their latest report to the UN Human Rights Council that on February 28—the day the U.S. and Israel initiated hostilities against Iran—U.S. forces launched missile strikes on a primary school in Minab and a sports facility in Lamerd. These actions constituted indiscriminate attacks, resulting in the deaths of at least 177 civilians and damage to civilian infrastructure.
In the Minab incident, a Tomahawk cruise missile struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School, killing at least 156 people, including 120 children. The experts stated that while the school was adjacent to an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps naval facility that was also attacked that day, the school building was clearly identifiable as a school, and there was no information indicating it had been used for military purposes.
Experts stated that the gathered evidence includes media reports indicating a preliminary U.S. military investigation found the U.S. responsible for the incident; furthermore, as the U.S. was the only party to the conflict possessing Tomahawk cruise missiles, there are reasonable grounds to believe the attack was launched by the U.S. Experts also determined that the school “was the intended target; the damage caused was not the result of the attack veering off course, nor was it collateral damage from an attack on a Revolutionary Guard facility,” citing survivor accounts indicating the school was struck twice.
In the Ramad incident, a Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) scattered a large number of tungsten pellets over a sports facility and a residential area, killing at least 21 civilians, including seven children. Experts noted that the site was clearly identifiable as a sports facility, with no information suggesting it had been used for military purposes; given that the U.S. was the only party to the conflict possessing PrSM missiles, there are reasonable grounds to believe the attack was launched by the U.S.
Experts pointed out that in both incidents, there are “reasonable grounds to believe that the U.S. launched indiscriminate attacks resulting in civilian deaths or injuries, or damage to civilian objects, constituting war crimes.”