A United Nations fact-finding panel reported Thursday that there are reasonable grounds to believe the United States committed war crimes during two missile strikes in Iran that killed at least 177 civilians in February 2026.
According to the report released by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, the strikes hit a primary school in Minab and a sports complex in Lamerd. The experts characterized the strikes as indiscriminate attacks that caused severe civilian loss of life and destroyed non-military infrastructure.
The UN report documented that at least 156 people, including 120 children, were killed in the strike on the Minab primary school. While the educational facility was located adjacent to an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval complex that was also targeted that day, the panel found the school was clearly identifiable and that no evidence indicated it was being used for military purposes. Citing physical evidence, survivor testimonies, and weapon characteristics—noting that Tomahawk missiles are deployed exclusively by U.S. forces among parties to the conflict—the experts concluded that the school was the intended point of impact rather than a target affected by an errant strike or collateral damage.
There was no immediate comment from U.S. officials following the release of the findings. The U.S. government has not acknowledged carrying out the February strikes, though it previously denied attacking the Lamerd sports complex and stated that a preliminary military inquiry was investigating the events in Minab.
The panel’s report also documented severe internal rights violations by Iranian authorities, concluding that state security forces committed crimes against humanity during a crackdown on widespread anti-government protests in January 2026. UN experts reported that lethal force was used on “a staggering and unprecedented scale” spanning all 31 of Iran’s provinces. Iranian authorities have not issued a response to the latest report, though Tehran has repeatedly rejected previous allegations of systematic human rights violations.
In a statement accompanying the release, the fact-finding mission warned that civilians in Iran remain caught between domestic state violence and the ongoing international military conflict involving the U.S. and Israel.
Sources
BBC News: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm9w4n5nverdo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss
Source: BBC News World
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Story synopsis gathered from: BBC News World — source
