KEY POINTS
- UN human rights experts say there are reasonable grounds to believe two US strikes in Iran killed at least 177 civilians.
- The attacks on a primary school in Minab and a sports complex in Lamerd were described as indiscriminate attacks.
- The US has denied carrying out the Lamerd strike and said it was investigating the Minab incident.
- The experts also accused Iranian authorities of crimes against humanity during a crackdown on anti government protests.
- The report said the crackdown involved mass killings, torture, arrests and other alleged human rights violations.
MAIN STORY
UN human rights experts have accused the United States of committing war crimes in two strikes in Iran that killed at least 177 civilians, while separately finding that Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity during a crackdown on mass protests.
The findings are contained in a report by the Independent International Fact Finding Mission on Iran submitted to the UN Human Rights Council.
The experts examined two of the deadliest attacks on civilians during the conflict, both carried out on February 28 when the United States and Israel launched military action against Iran.
In Minab, Tomahawk missiles struck Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School, killing at least 156 people, including 120 children, according to local authorities.
The school was located near an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval facility that was also attacked that day. However, the UN experts said the school was clearly identifiable as a civilian facility and found no information indicating that it had been used for military purposes.
Based on evidence gathered by the mission, including media reports of a preliminary US military inquiry and the fact that the United States was the only party to the conflict known to possess Tomahawk missiles, the experts said there were reasonable grounds to believe the strike was carried out by US forces.
They also concluded that the school was the intended point of impact rather than the result of an accidental or collateral strike. Survivors reportedly told investigators that the school was hit twice.
The US military has not released the findings of its investigation into the Minab incident. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said the US would “never target civilian targets”.
A second strike examined by the experts occurred in Lamerd, where Precision Strike Missiles dispersed tungsten pellets over a sports complex and nearby residential area.
At least 21 civilians, including seven children, were killed, according to local authorities.
The experts said the sports complex was clearly identifiable and found no information indicating that it had been used for military purposes. They concluded that there were reasonable grounds to believe US forces carried out the attack, citing evidence including the US possession of PrSM missiles.
Washington has denied carrying out strikes on Lamerd on February 28 and disputed reports identifying the weapon used as a PrSM.
The experts said the two incidents met the threshold for an indiscriminate attack resulting in civilian deaths or damage to civilian objects.
The report also examined Iran’s response to mass anti government protests that took place in December 2025 and January 2026.
According to the experts, Iranian security forces used lethal force on an unprecedented scale, with killings and injuries reported across all 31 provinces.
Witnesses, healthcare workers and relatives of victims reportedly told investigators that security personnel positioned themselves on rooftops and other elevated locations before firing assault rifles into crowds.
The experts also documented severe injuries among protesters, including wounds to the head, chest and eyes caused by metal shotgun pellets. Some victims suffered permanent blindness.
Healthcare facilities were also reportedly targeted as the crackdown intensified, with wounded demonstrators beaten or arrested and some healthcare workers detained. The experts said the actions deterred victims from seeking medical treatment.
Tens of thousands of people were reportedly detained during the protests, with the mission documenting allegations of torture, solitary confinement and denial of access to legal counsel.
The experts further warned that Iran had intensified the use of the death penalty against protesters, with at least 29 men executed after expedited trials over charges linked to the unrest.
The mission said it could not independently verify the overall death toll from the crackdown, but found strong grounds to believe it was considerably higher than the government’s official figure of 3,000.
The US based Human Rights Activists News Agency has separately reported more than 7,000 deaths, although the figure could not be independently verified by the mission.
The UN experts concluded that Iranian authorities had committed widespread and systematic violations against civilians, including killings, imprisonment, torture and other inhumane acts.
Iran has previously rejected allegations of systematic human rights violations and accused the United States and Israel of encouraging the unrest, while blaming deaths on people it described as terrorists and rioters.
THE ISSUES
- The report places alleged violations by both sides of the conflict under scrutiny. The UN experts attributed alleged indiscriminate attacks on civilian locations to US forces while separately documenting alleged widespread abuses by Iranian authorities during the protest crackdown.
- The Minab and Lamerd findings centre on whether civilian facilities were deliberately or indiscriminately struck. The experts said neither location showed evidence of being used for military purposes and linked the attacks to US weapons based on the evidence available to them.
- The US has disputed the Lamerd findings and has not released the outcome of its investigation into Minab, leaving its own assessment of the incidents unresolved in the public record described in the report.
- The findings on the protests point to the scale of Iran’s internal human rights crisis, with allegations involving lethal force, mass detention, torture, restrictions on medical care and executions following expedited trials.
- The competing allegations add another layer to an already complex conflict in which civilians face risks both from military attacks and internal security operations.
WHAT’S BEING SAID
“Civilians in Iran are caught between gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity committed by their own government and the nation’s deadly conflict with the United States and Israel.” – Independent International Fact Finding Mission on Iran
“reasonable grounds to believe that the US committed the war crime of launching an indiscriminate attack resulting in loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects” – Independent International Fact Finding Mission on Iran
“many gross human rights violations” – Independent International Fact Finding Mission on Iran
WHAT’S NEXT
The US military has yet to release the findings of its investigation into the Minab strike, while the US has rejected the findings concerning the Lamerd attack.
Iran has also not commented on the latest report, although its authorities have previously rejected allegations of systematic human rights violations.
BOTTOM LINE
UN investigators have attributed two deadly strikes on civilian locations in Iran to the United States and described them as potential war crimes, while accusing Iranian authorities of crimes against humanity during the protest crackdown. Both sets of findings remain contested by the parties concerned.
