178 Civilians Dead: UN Panel Cites US War Crimes in Iranian Airstrikes
Independent UN-backed experts found reasonable grounds to believe the United States committed war crimes during two airstrikes in Iran that killed at least 178 civilians. International human rights monitors and legal bodies face mounting evidence following the report, which accused Washington of launching indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure while simultaneously charging Tehran with crimes against humanity against its own population.
The report by the fact-finding mission, chaired by Bangladeshi jurist Sara Hossain, determined that a US missile directly struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab on February 28, 2026. Iranian state media reported 168 fatalities in the school bombing, the majority of them children. Experts concluded the school was the intended point of impact rather than collateral damage from a strike on a nearby Iranian Revolutionary Guard compound. A second strike on the same day involved Precision Strike Missiles dispersing tungsten pellets over a residential area and sports complex in Lamerd, killing 22 civilians.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly rejected the findings, calling the UN Human Rights Council “unserious nonsense” and stating that Iran remains the sole party committing war crimes in the conflict. The US State Department reiterated that Washington does not grant credibility to the report, citing its prior withdrawal from the Geneva-based council. Simultaneously, the UN panel documented widespread human rights violations by Iranian security forces, detailing a campaign of violent repression where state forces fired assault rifles into crowds, tortured detainees, and committed crimes against humanity on a staggering scale.
The fact-finding mission, established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2022, will formally present its evidence to the 47-member council in Geneva on Monday, September 21, 2026.
