The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran has found "reasonable grounds to believe the United States committed the war crime of launching indiscriminate attacks" in two February strikes on Iranian civilians, while also concluding that Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity in their crackdown on domestic protests [1][8][15]. The mission, established by the Human Rights Council in 2022 and chaired by Bangladeshi jurist Sara Hossain, is scheduled to present its findings to the Council's 47 member states on Monday [5][4].
The first strike examined was a Tomahawk missile attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab on February 28, the opening day of the US-Israeli war on Iran, which killed more than 150 people including approximately 120 children [1][11][15]. The mission concluded that the school building was the intended point of impact rather than collateral damage from a strike on an adjacent Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval facility roughly 72 metres away, and found no evidence the school was used for military purposes [17][8]. The mission stated that "the US directed the strikes at the building of the school while being aware of a substantial risk of striking a civilian object and acting recklessly" [4][6]. Iranian officials have put the school death toll higher, at more than 175 killed, nearly all of them children [12].
The second strike involved a US-made PrSM missile that dispersed approximately 180,000 tungsten pellets over a sports complex and residential area in Lamerd, killing 22 civilians [17][1], though the US military has disputed reports identifying the weapon used as a PrSM [3]. The mission identified the US as the only party to the conflict possessing both Tomahawk and PrSM missiles [3]. US Central Command stated in March that US forces did not conduct any strikes in Lamerd that day [1][5][8].
US officials have rejected the mission's conclusions. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said the Human Rights Council "has accomplished nothing for human rights while spouting unserious nonsense for decades" and that "the only party in this conflict that has committed war crimes is the Iranian regime" [2][5]. A State Department official said the administration does not accept the report's conclusions and noted the US had formally withdrawn from the Human Rights Council [28]. President Donald Trump said in June that "nobody" had purposefully attacked a girls' school, citing an ongoing investigation [1][2][8]. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US military would "never target civilian targets" [3].
The Pentagon has not published its investigation results, stating only that "our investigation remains ongoing, and we have nothing to announce at the moment" [4][5]. Reporting indicates the Pentagon's internal probe concluded the Minab strike was a targeting error caused by outdated Defense Intelligence Agency data and unverified intelligence suggesting a senior Iranian commander was present at the site [6][12][17][30]. Admiral Brad Cooper of US Central Command told the House Armed Services Committee in May that the Minab attack "correlated" with a US strike [2]. US investigators reportedly found the US military was most likely responsible [17].
The mission's parallel finding addressed Iran's response to protests that began on December 28 and spread to 574 locations across all 31 provinces [11][13]. The mission documented killings "on a staggering scale," mass arbitrary detention, torture, attacks on healthcare facilities, and at least 29 executions following summary trials between March and August 2026 [13][15][3]. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (Hrana) confirmed more than 7,000 killings in the crackdown, nearly all of them protesters [3]. Iran Human Rights, a separate organisation, published the names of 4,200 people it says were killed, describing the figure as a documented minimum [22]. Iran's official toll of 3,038 dead and 25,000 injured is believed to be far below the real count [7][14].
Iranian authorities have rejected allegations of systematic rights violations, attributing the unrest to "terrorists and rioters" backed by exiled opponents, the United States, and Israel [1][5][6]. Tehran reported more than 3,000 deaths in the crackdown and blamed the violence on "terrorist acts" orchestrated by the United States and Israel [13][14].
UN Secretary-General spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric called the mission's conclusions "at the very least shocking" and demanded accountability [9]. The mission urged both the United States and Iran to immediately halt hostilities, compensate victims, and allow independent investigations [15][13]. Yemen's National Human Rights Commission condemned the Minab school strike as a war crime rising to genocide and called for an independent international investigation [26].
The finding's legal enforceability remains uncertain. The mission is investigative rather than judicial and cannot bring criminal cases [4][19]. Neither the United States nor Iran is a party to the International Criminal Court, leaving accountability to domestic investigations or universal jurisdiction in national courts [21]. Law professor Melanie O'Brien of the University of Western Australia argued the Minab strike likely violated the laws of war through a failure to take required precautions, but that prosecution must come through US or Iranian domestic channels [21].
In Minab, bereaved families continue to gather at the school ruins. Heydar Sadeghi, who lost his 11-year-old grandson and the boy's mother, returns nightly to the site: "`میگشتم تو این جسدها، فکر میکردم شاید یکی از بچههای من در میان آنها باشد`" (I searched through these bodies, thinking one of my children might be among them) [23]. Fatemeh Barani, whose daughter Nasim Nistani was a teacher at the school, said her daughter called parents to collect 22 pupils and would likely have survived had she stayed in her classroom [23].
The Human Rights Council is scheduled to receive the mission's report on Monday, when member states will discuss potential follow-up action [4][9].