UN backed experts cite possible US war crimes in Iran attacks

Middle East / 17 September 2026 Saudis failing to win allies for its fight against Yemen's Houthis 17 September 2026 World / 17 September 2026 Swedish left coalition wins general election 17 September 2026 World / 17 September 2026 Argentine judge orders Falklands oil project to stop 17 September 2026 Maga Diplomacy / 17 September 2026 South Africa slams planned US visa curbs over alleged racism 17 September 2026 Palestine / 17 September 2026 At least 21 dead as building damaged by Israeli attacks in Gaza collapses 17 September 2026 World / 17 September 2026 Leaders from Lebanon, France and Jordan to discuss ailing Lebanese military 17 September 2026 HUMAN rights experts commissioned by the human rights body of the United Nations say they have found “reasonable grounds” to believe the US committed war crimes in two strikes in Iran, including on a school in the southern city of Minab.

The international fact-finding mission on Iran says the findings centre on a pair of air strikes that killed at least 178 civilians, including women and children.

At the start of the illegal and unprovoked war launched by the US and Israel against Iran on February 28, at least one US missile hit the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab, according to an Associated Press investigation.

Iranian media reported that 168 people were killed in the strike, most of them children.

In a statement, the fact-finding team said: “The mission found reasonable grounds to believe the US committed the war crime of launching indiscriminate attacks resulting in the loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects.”

The Trump administration has yet to directly accept the blame or release findings of a Pentagon own investigation into the school bombing.

The UN-backed team cited the allegations of war crimes over two strikes, one involving Tomahawk missiles on the “clearly identifiable” school, and another air strike where precision strike missiles dispersed tungsten pellets over a “clearly identifiable sports complex and residential area” in the southern city of Lamerd.

Both attacks took place on February 28.

The UN-backed team said 22 civilian men and women were killed in Lamerd.

US Central Command has denied responsibility for the Lamerd strike.

The team also said that killings by state security forces occurred on a “staggering scale” in Iran, and alleged crimes against humanity committed by the Iranian government.

It said civilians were caught between “gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity committed by their own government and the nation’s deadly conflict with the US and Israel.”

The fact-finding mission on Iran, chaired by jurist Sara Hossain of Bangladesh, is made up of independent experts and was created in 2022 by the Human Rights Council, the UN’s top human rights body.

Meanwhile, China has appealed to Iran and the US to return to the negotiating table to try to end the conflict.

During remarks following talks in Beijing with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, China’s top diplomat Wang Yi called on both sides to act rationally, exercise restraint and to return to the Islamabad memorandum of understanding that was agreed in June as a basis for a peace process.

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