bayu-aji
A United Nations-mandated investigation has concluded that the United States military may have committed war crimes during a pair of devastating aerial attacks in southern Iran in February 2026. The strikes, which hit an elementary school and a public athletic facility, resulted in significant civilian casualties, including the deaths of scores of children and educators.
The findings were presented to the UN Human Rights Council by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran. Following months of inquiry, the panel determined that there are reasonable grounds to conclude American forces acted recklessly when targeting sites that possessed obvious civilian characteristics during the opening phase of a wider military campaign launched alongside Israel following the collapse of nuclear negotiations.
Investigators noted that both the United States and Israel declined to participate in the inquiry, refusing to grant access to military personnel or supply requested documentation. Consequently, the panel constructed its evidentiary record using commercial satellite imagery, verified video recordings, forensic weapons analysis, and testimonies provided by Iranian witnesses and independent humanitarian organizations.
The deadliest incident detailed in the report occurred on the morning of February 28, 2026, at approximately 10:30 a.m. local time (07:00 GMT), when missiles struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in the southern city of Minab, located within Hormozgan province.
According to the mission’s findings, the educational facility stood roughly 72 meters away from an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval compound. However, the school was completely cordoned off by a boundary wall, maintained an independent entrance, and displayed prominent visual indicators of its educational purpose on satellite photographs, including colorful exterior murals, a playground, and active classrooms.
The investigation revealed that the school compound was struck in two successive waves. An initial missile hit the building's ground floor, prompting teachers and administrators to evacuate the children toward an upper-level prayer room. Moments later, a second warhead detonated on the upper floor, inflicting catastrophic casualties among the trapped occupants.
Local authorities reported a total of 156 deaths from the Minab attack, consisting of 120 students and 26 female instructors. Independent casualty tallies compiled by the UN panel documented 157 fatalities, noting that at least 15 of the victims were six-year-old pupils attending their early primary classes.
Although administration officials in Washington initially attempted to hold Iranian forces responsible for the devastation, physical debris recovered from the scene pointed elsewhere. Independent weapons specialists examined the remnants and identified the munition as an American-made Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, a weapon system not operated by the Iranian armed forces.
The United States subsequently stopped contesting its involvement in the Minab strike. In mid-May, Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), acknowledged that preliminary internal reviews correlated the strike with American military operations. In later remarks, US President Donald Trump stated that no personnel had deliberately targeted an educational facility.
Media investigations by Reuters and The New York Times, cited in the United Nations dossier, revealed that an internal Pentagon review attributed the catastrophic error to obsolete intelligence files. Those outdated assessments had improperly categorized the entire school property as part of the adjacent Revolutionary Guard military compound.
A second strike examined by the UN mission took place later that same day at roughly 5:10 p.m. local time (13:40 GMT) in Lamerd, situated in neighboring Fars province. Missiles slammed into the Shahid Haj Khalil Naimi Cultural and Sports Complex, a civic facility that the fact-finding team confirmed served no military function.
Verified video footage showed an initial munition detonating over an adjoining residential neighborhood, followed by a direct impact on the recreational complex itself. Local records indicated that 22 people were killed in the Lamerd attack, including four children, while more than 100 others sustained injuries and an adjacent school building suffered structural damage.
A dispute remains over the weaponry utilized in the Lamerd bombardment. While CENTCOM maintained that the physical damage mirrored the blast pattern of an Iranian Hoveyzeh cruise missile, the UN panel formally dismissed that assertion. Citing forensic weapons specialists, the report highlighted design discrepancies that ruled out the Hoveyzeh and identified the weapon as an American Precision Strike Missile, an advanced munition that Washington had recently confirmed deploying in Iran.
The White House has forcefully rejected the UN report and its allegations of misconduct. White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly dismissed the findings, describing the Human Rights Council as an ineffective body that has produced unserious claims for decades.
Kelly asserted that war crimes in the region were committed exclusively by the Iranian government, accusing Tehran of killing thousands of its citizens, targeting Americans abroad, carrying out attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, and striking regional neighbors. She added that the US administration remains committed to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear arms to ensure global security.
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