UN Mission Finds ‘Reasonable Grounds’ To Believe US Forces Committed War Crimes In Iran

A United Nations fact-finding mission on Iran has found “reasonable grounds to believe” that the United States committed war crimes during two military strikes on civilian sites in Iran in February, while concluding that Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity during their suppression of anti-government protests.

The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran said its findings covered a February 28 strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab and another strike on a sports complex and residential area in Lamerd. The mission said the attacks resulted in widespread civilian deaths and damage to civilian infrastructure.

The report, to be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council, examined US military actions during the war that began on February 28 as well as the Iranian government's response to nationwide protests that began in December 2025.

Minab School Strike

The mission said there were reasonable grounds to believe US forces were responsible for the attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab, where more than 150 people were killed, including around 120 schoolchildren, according to Iranian officials.

The investigators concluded that the attack was indiscriminate, caused civilian deaths and damaged civilian infrastructure, and therefore amounted to a war crime under international law.

The mission said US forces had intelligence indicating that a senior Iranian military commander was present at the site but had failed to adequately verify the information before the strike. Investigators said the failure to establish that the building was a military objective went beyond ordinary negligence.

Lamerd Strike

The second case involved an airstrike on a sports complex and nearby residential area in Lamerd.

The mission said the attack involved precision-strike missiles that dispersed tungsten pellets and killed 22 civilian men and women. US Central Command has denied responsibility for the Lamerd strike.

The finding follows separate scrutiny of the attack and the identification of the weapons involved, but the mission's conclusion adds a UN investigative assessment to the dispute over who carried out the strike.

Iran’s Crackdown

The same mission also examined Iran's response to nationwide protests that began in late December 2025.

It found that Iranian security forces carried out killings and other serious abuses on a “staggering” scale and concluded that crimes against humanity had been committed during the crackdown.

The mission documented unlawful killings, arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances and severe restrictions on freedom of expression and other rights. It said the abuses were part of the government's response to widespread anti-government protests.

The mission has previously investigated patterns of repression in Iran and has used the “reasonable grounds to believe” standard in assessing evidence. It is an investigative mechanism established by the UN Human Rights Council and is separate from a court or criminal tribunal.

Civilians Caught In War And Repression

The findings present two separate sets of allegations against opposing sides in Iran's conflict: civilian harm caused by foreign military action and systematic abuses by Iranian authorities against protesters.

The mission said Iranian civilians had been caught between “gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity committed by their own government” and the wider conflict with the United States and Israel.

Its conclusions do not themselves amount to criminal convictions. Rather, they represent an investigative assessment based on evidence gathered by the mission and could contribute to future accountability proceedings.

The report places both the February military strikes and Iran's domestic crackdown under scrutiny as the UN continues to assess alleged violations committed during one of the country's most severe periods of conflict and political unrest.