A United Nations-backed fact-finding mission has found “reasonable grounds to believe” that the United States committed war crimes in two airstrikes in Iran that killed at least 178 civilians, including a large number of children.
The findings centre on a February 28, 2026, missile strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab, southern Iran, and a separate attack on a sports complex and residential area in Lamerd on the same day.
The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran said the Minab attack killed more than 150 people, with investigators citing credible information that approximately 123 children under the age of 13 were among the dead. Iranian state media have reported a higher toll of 168 people killed in the school strike. 
According to the mission, the school was a clearly identifiable civilian facility. Investigators said photographs and videos taken before the attack showed child-oriented murals, school signs and playgrounds that should have made its civilian character apparent.
The strike was carried out using Tomahawk missiles.
“The Mission concluded that when identifying and directing its attack against the primary school in Minab, whose civilian nature is apparent, the US failed in its obligation to do everything feasible to verify that it was a military objective,” the report said.
The investigators further said satellite imagery appeared to show children gathered in the school’s courtyard before the strike.
Images and videos from the aftermath showed extensive destruction, including damaged classrooms, bloodied school materials and parents searching for or holding the remains of their children.
The mission said several families lost more than one child, describing the impact as devastating for both the affected families and the wider community.
US President Donald Trump previously rejected the suggestion that American forces had deliberately targeted a girls’ school. In June, he said “nobody” had intentionally attacked a girls’ school in Iran and referred to an investigation into the incident. The Pentagon has not publicly released the findings of that investigation.
Second strike in Lamerd
The UN-backed investigators also examined a February 28 strike in Lamerd, where precision-guided missiles hit a sports complex and nearby residential areas.
The mission said the attack killed 22 civilian men and women. It found that the sports centre was “visibly separate” from an adjacent compound belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The missiles reportedly dispersed tungsten pellets over the area, causing casualties and damage beyond the immediate point of impact. Independent analysis by Airwars and weapons experts has also examined the wide blast and fragmentation pattern associated with the strike.
However, the United States has denied responsibility for the Lamerd attack. US Central Command said in March that American forces had not carried out strikes in the city on the day in question.
UN also accuses Iran of crimes against humanity
The report did not focus solely on US military actions.
The fact-finding mission also accused Iranian authorities of serious human rights violations and crimes against humanity during a crackdown on nationwide protests that began in late December 2025 and continued into early 2026.
The investigators cited allegations including unlawful killings, torture, arbitrary detention and other abuses against protesters and civilians.
The report is expected to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The findings come amid continued disputes over responsibility for civilian deaths during the Iran conflict, with Washington rejecting criticism from UN human rights bodies while Iranian authorities face separate allegations over their treatment of protesters.
The UN mission’s conclusions are investigative findings rather than a criminal conviction by an international court. Any eventual legal determination of individ
