UN human rights experts state there are reasonable grounds to believe the US committed war crimes in two strikes in Iran that resulted in the deaths of at least 177 civilians.
A new report by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran indicates that missile strikes in February on a primary school in Minab and a sports complex in Lamerd constituted indiscriminate attacks, causing civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure.
The US has previously denied striking Lamerd and stated it was investigating the Minab incident. A State Department official commented that the US does not find the report's findings credible.
The experts also determined that Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity during a crackdown on widespread anti-government protests in January.
They reported that killings by security forces occurred on a "staggering and unprecedented scale" across all 31 provinces.
Iran has not yet responded to these findings, though it has previously rejected allegations of systematic human rights violations.
"Civilians in Iran are caught between gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity committed by their own government and the nation's deadly conflict with the United States and Israel," the fact-finding mission stated on Thursday.
For their latest report to the UN Human Rights Council, the mission's three independent experts examined two of the deadliest attacks on civilians during the conflict.
On 28 February, during the war between the US and Iran, Tomahawk missiles struck Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in the southern town of Minab, killing at least 156 people, including 120 children, according to local authorities.
The fact-finding mission's experts noted that the school was adjacent to an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval complex that was also attacked that day. However, they stated the school was clearly identifiable and there was no information suggesting it was used for military purposes.
Based on the evidence gathered, including media reports suggesting a preliminary US military inquiry found US forces responsible, and the fact that the US is the sole possessor of Tomahawk missiles in the conflict, the experts concluded they had reasonable grounds to believe the strike on the school was carried out by the US.
They further concluded that the school was "the intended point of impact and that the damage did not result from an errant strike or collateral damage" from the attack on the IRGC complex, citing survivors who reported the school was hit twice.
The US military has not yet released the findings of its investigation into the Minab strike, but Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has stated that the US "would never target civilian targets."
Additionally, on 28 February, Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM) dispersed tungsten pellets over a sports complex and residential area in Lamerd, killing at least 21 civilians, including seven children, according to local authorities.
The fact-finding mission's experts stated that the sports complex was clearly identifiable and there was no information indicating its use for military purposes.
They concluded that there were reasonable grounds to believe the strike was carried out by the US, citing evidence such as the fact that the US is the only party to the conflict possessing PrSM missiles.
The US military has stated it did not conduct any strikes in Lamerd that day and disputed reports identifying the weapon used as a PrSM.
In both incidents, the fact-finding mission's experts found "reasonable grounds to believe that the US committed the war crime of launching an indiscriminate attack resulting in loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects."
The fact-finding mission's report also addresses the Iranian authorities' violent suppression of mass protests that occurred across Iran in December 2025 and January 2026.
The experts described it as an unprecedented escalation compared to previous crackdowns, characterized by the widespread use of lethal force leading to mass killings and injuries, and extensive arrests.
They cited witnesses, healthcare workers, and victims' families who reported that security personnel positioned themselves on rooftops and other elevated locations, firing assault rifles into crowds.
Protesters also sustained severe injuries to the head, chest, and eyes from metal shotgun pellets, resulting in permanent blindness.
As the crackdown intensified, security forces reportedly attacked healthcare facilities, assaulting and arresting wounded demonstrators and detaining some healthcare workers, which discouraged victims from seeking medical care, according to the experts.
They also found that the tens of thousands of individuals detained during the protests experienced torture, solitary confinement, and denial of legal counsel.
The experts warned that the government has since increased its use of the death penalty against protesters, with at least 29 men executed following expedited trials on charges related to the unrest.
The fact-finding mission's report noted that while the death toll from the crackdown could not be independently verified, there were strong grounds to believe it was significantly higher than the official figure of 3,000, with the majority identified by the government as security forces or bystanders.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (Hrana) has reported confirming the deaths of over 7,000 people, predominantly protesters.
The fact-finding mission's experts concluded that Iranian authorities committed "many gross human rights violations" during the crackdown, which amounted to "the crimes against humanity of murder, imprisonment and other severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, and other inhumane acts, committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against a civilian population."
Iranian authorities accused the US and Israel of instigating the unrest and blamed the deaths on what they termed "terrorists" and "rioters."
