U.N. Experts Say U.S. Committed War Crimes in Iran Strikes

A group of experts backed by the United Nations says there are good reasons to believe the United States committed war crimes during airstrikes in Iran. The strikes happened on February 28 and hit places where civilians were living and going to school. One of the strikes hit a school in the southern Iranian city of Minab, killing around 170 people — most of them schoolgirls between the ages of 7 and 12. The experts say the attacks broke international rules that are meant to protect civilians during wartime.

The U.N.-backed team also looked at a second strike in Lamerd, another city in southern Iran. That missile spread small pieces of metal called tungsten pellets across a sports complex and a neighborhood where people lived. The team said 22 civilian men and women were killed in that attack. U.S. Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the region, has denied being responsible for the Lamerd strike.

When it comes to the school in Minab, a U.S. official told CBS News that an early American review found the military was 'likely' responsible. However, the review also said the school may have been hit by mistake, possibly because old intelligence reports wrongly showed the area as part of an Iranian military base. The Trump administration has not officially accepted blame for the attack. It also has not released the results of a Pentagon investigation into what happened that day, when Tomahawk cruise missiles were used.

The fact-finding team said the school in Minab was easy to identify as a school. Under international law, attacking a clearly identified civilian building — like a school — on purpose or without enough care is considered a war crime. The team said there were 'reasonable grounds' to believe the United States launched what are called indiscriminate attacks, meaning attacks that did not carefully avoid hitting civilians.

The U.N. experts did not only criticize the United States. They also said that Iran's own government had committed very serious human rights violations. In January, Iran's security forces cracked down on anti-government protests across the country, and the team said the killings that happened were on a 'staggering scale.' The experts said these actions by the Iranian government amounted to 'crimes against humanity,' which is one of the most serious violations of international law.

The fact-finding mission on Iran was created in 2022 by the Human Rights Council, which is the top human rights body of the United Nations. It is led by Sara Hossain, a lawyer from Bangladesh. The team is made up of independent experts, meaning they do not work for any government. Their job is to gather facts and report what they find to the international community. Their latest findings paint a troubling picture of a conflict where civilians on all sides are suffering.