The mission also accused Iranian authorities of committing crimes against humanity during their crackdown on protests in late 2025 and early this year.
A United Nations fact-finding mission has determined that the United States likely committed “war crimes” in Iran when it carried out a pair of air strikes that killed at least 178 civilians, including women and children.
The report, released on Thursday by the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, also condemned Iran for human rights violations and crimes against humanity in the wake of nationwide protests last year and into early 2026.
The mission detailed the US attack on Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab, which killed over 150 people – approximately 120 of them children – on 28 February, the day the US and Israel launched their war against Iran.
It also described a US air strike on a “clearly identifiable” sports complex and residential area in Lamerd the same day, where precision strike missiles released clouds of tungsten pellets, killing 22 civilian men and women.
The findings, slated for submission to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, examined US conduct during the Iran war as well as the Iranian government’s response to civil unrest that began in late December.
US Air Strikes Against Civilians
The attack on the school in Minab was carried out using Tomahawk missiles.
“The Mission concluded that in identifying and directing its attack against the primary school in Minab, whose civilian nature was apparent, the US failed in its obligation to do everything feasible to verify that it was a military objective,” the report stated.
The report’s authors noted that photographs and videos of the school before and after the strike revealed “readily identifiable features” associated with an educational facility for young children.
“These included child-oriented murals painted on exterior walls, school signage, and playground areas,” the UN report said.
“According to public reporting, satellite imagery of the school before the strike also appears to show human figures, readily identifiable as children, gathered in its courtyard.”
After the strike, state-affiliated media broadcast widespread destruction at the site, including parents clutching the body parts of their children alongside bloodied backpacks and schoolbooks.
“Several families lost more than one child, reflecting the devastating impact of the attack on families and the wider community,” the report said.
In June, US President Donald Trump stated that “nobody” purposefully targeted a girls’ school in Iran in February, citing an internal investigation into the incident for which the Pentagon has not yet published any findings.
Concerning the strike in Lamerd, the mission similarly found that the sports centre attacked was “visibly separate” from an adjacent compound belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
US Central Command issued a statement in March asserting that US forces did not launch any strikes into the city of Lamerd on that day.
Iran Protests
The UN mission additionally accused Iran of suppressing demonstrators during the country’s 2025–2026 protests through an internet shutdown, unlawful killings, torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, and severe restrictions on freedom of expression.
It further stated that the number of deaths and injuries inflicted by state forces is substantially higher than the government’s official toll – which reports 3,038 people killed and 25,000 injured – though exact figures could not be verified.
Tehran maintains that the majority of deaths resulted from “rioters” during protests allegedly backed by exiled opposition groups, the United States, and Israel.
The UN fact-finding mission called on both Iran and the United States to immediately cease hostilities, provide reparations to victims, and pursue lasting peace through diplomatic means.