UN mission finds grounds to believe US committed war crimes in Iran with strikes on school, sports centre

The United Nations has concluded that the United States may have committed war crimes in Iran during military strikes on a school and sports facility in February, according to a new report. The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran also found that Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity during their suppression of anti-government protests before the war.

The UN experts examined the US's conduct during the Iran war and the Iranian government's response to the unrest that began in late December. The attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab resulted in over 150 deaths, including around 120 schoolchildren, and the UN found that the US's failure to verify the building's civilian status before launching the strike constituted a war crime.

Similarly, the strike on a sports centre in Lamerd, which killed and injured 22 civilians, was found to be indiscriminate and therefore a war crime. The UN report also highlighted the Iranian government's violent crackdown on protesters, which resulted in a far higher death toll than official figures.