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A United Nations-backed investigation has concluded that US forces likely committed war crimes during airstrikes in Iran earlier this year, centering on an attack that destroyed a primary school and killed more than 150 people, most of them children.
The findings, released on September 17, 2026, by a UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission, represent one of the most serious formal allegations of US war crimes in decades. The report is scheduled for presentation at the UN Human Rights Council when it convenes in Geneva on September 21.
What the investigators found
The central finding concerns a February 28 airstrike on Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab, a city in southern Iran. According to the fact-finding mission, the attack killed over 150 people, including approximately 120 schoolchildren. Estimates in the report range from 156 to 175 total fatalities.
Investigators classified the school as a “clearly identifiable civilian object” and found no evidence it was being used for military purposes at the time of the strike. Under international humanitarian law, attacking a known civilian target without military justification constitutes a war crime.
The mission also examined a second strike on the same day targeting a sports center in Lamerd, another southern Iranian city. That attack injured at least 22 civilians and caused significant damage to surrounding structures. US Central Command has denied conducting any strikes in Lamerd on February 28, though investigators attributed both attacks to the same operation.
At the Minab site, investigators recovered remnants of Tomahawk cruise missiles consistent with US military weaponry. That physical evidence forms a key part of the mission’s attribution of the strikes to American forces.
Both strikes were part of what the report identifies as “Operation Roaring Lion,” a joint US-Israeli military operation that commenced on February 28.
The legal framework
The distinction between military targets and civilian objects is one of the oldest principles in the laws of armed conflict. Known as the principle of distinction, it requires warring parties to differentiate between combatants and civilians at all times. A related rule, the principle of proportionality, prohibits attacks where expected civilian harm would be excessive relative to the anticipated military advantage.
The UN investigators found that US forces failed on both counts. The school was identifiable as a civilian facility, and the mission found no evidence that the attacking forces took the precautions required under international humanitarian law to minimize civilian casualties.
Iranian officials have demanded accountability for the airstrikes, though the practical mechanics of enforcing war crimes findings against a permanent member of the UN Security Council remain deeply complicated. The US holds veto power over Security Council resolutions, which historically has shielded it and its allies from binding enforcement actions.
The report’s other findings
The fact-finding mission did not limit its scrutiny to American military operations. The same report documented crimes against humanity committed by Iranian authorities during a crackdown on domestic protests that erupted in late December 2025.
Investigators found that the violence directed at Iranian civilians by their own government was systematic and widespread, meeting the legal threshold for crimes against humanity. The report suggested that actual death tolls from the crackdown may exceed officially reported figures.
What happens next
The formal presentation at the Human Rights Council on September 21 will bring these findings into the arena of international diplomacy. The International Criminal Court, which could theoretically pursue prosecutions, does not have jurisdiction over the US, which is not a party to the Rome Statute.
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