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A United Nations panel of human rights experts has reported "reasonable grounds" to believe that the United States committed war crimes in Iran. The report, submitted on Thursday (September 17), focuses on two airstrikes in February that resulted in the deaths of at least 178 civilians, including many children, in the southern cities of Minab and Lamerd.
The panel, chaired by jurist Sara Hossain, was established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2022. The experts concluded that the U.S. launched indiscriminate attacks, one of which struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab, killing dozens of children. The report also noted that another strike dispersed tungsten pellets over a sports complex in Lamerd, resulting in additional civilian casualties.
The White House has dismissed the report, with spokeswoman Anna Kelly stating that the UN human rights body has "accomplished nothing for human rights while spouting unserious nonsense for decades." The U.S. government has not officially accepted responsibility for the strikes, and the Pentagon has yet to release its findings from an internal investigation.
The report also accuses Iran's government of committing crimes against humanity during a violent crackdown on protests earlier this year. The fact-finding mission alleges that Iranian security forces used lethal force, resulting in mass casualties and widespread human rights violations.
The UN panel's findings are based on interviews, satellite imagery, and documentation from credible organizations. The report calls for both the U.S. and Iran to halt rights violations and provide reparations to victims. The international community continues to monitor the situation closely, as both nations face scrutiny over their actions in the ongoing conflict.