A White House spokesperson rejected the report, saying the UN Human Rights Council had done little for human rights beyond making frivolous statements for decades.
GENEVA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 18th Sep, 2026) A UN investigative mission report says the United States committed war crimes in two airstrikes carried out in Iran on Feb. 28, including an attack on a school in the southern city of Minab.
The report reviewed two US airstrikes conducted on the first day of the US-Iran war, in which 178 civilians, including children, were killed.
One of the attacks targeted the school in Minab. The UN investigative mission concluded that the school was the intended target and was not hit merely by accident.
The White House rejected the UN report on alleged US war crimes in Iran.
According to The Washington Post, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said the UN Human Rights Council had done nothing for human rights for decades apart from making frivolous statements. She said the Iranian government was the only party in the conflict to have committed war crimes.
The investigative mission said there were reasonable grounds, based on available evidence, to conclude that US forces targeted Shajareh Tayyebah Primary School, killing more than 150 people, including approximately 120 children.
It described the attack as an indiscriminate attack against civilians that could amount to a war crime under international law.
According to the report, the school was clearly a civilian building and could easily be identified through child-focused murals on its walls, school symbols and a playground.
Satellite imagery also reportedly showed signs of children being present on the school grounds before the attack.
UN experts said US forces relied on information about the presence of an Iranian military commander near the school, but failed to properly verify the military nature of the target before the attack.
The report said US forces made the school the centre of the attack and knew there was a significant risk that a civilian building would be struck. The mission said the matter went beyond mere negligence and involved disregard for the possible civilian consequences of the attack.
US officials had previously said the school was not deliberately targeted, arguing that US forces had aimed at a nearby military facility belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and that the school was hit accidentally.
US President Donald Trump said in June that no one had deliberately attacked the Iranian school and that mistakes could occur during war.
The US Department of Defense also declined to comment directly on the UN report, saying its own investigation was still ongoing.
However, the UN investigative mission did not agree with that position.
The mission also investigated a second attack carried out the same day on a sports complex and an adjoining residential area in the Iranian city of Lamerd.
According to the report, 22 civilians were killed in the attack.
The investigative mission said the sports complex was clearly distinguishable from a nearby Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps building.
It added that the weapon used in the attack scattered metal fragments over a wide area, creating a serious risk to civilians.
Regarding both attacks, the mission said it had reasonable grounds supporting allegations of war crimes against US forces.
The report said US and Iranian authorities must comply with international law, including protecting civilians and providing compensation to victims.
However, the UN investigative mission’s report is not a final ruling by a court.
It presents legal and human rights findings based on the available evidence.
The report also accused Iranian authorities of serious human rights violations and crimes against humanity during anti-government protests in Iran, including unlawful killings, torture, arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances.
