Daniel Wolfram
The UN experts found evidence of two war crimes in form of airstrikes. The report is not binding.
Two American military actions in Iran have drawn severe condemnation from independent investigators in new findings.
According to a report published on Thursday by independent human rights experts backed by the United Nations, investigators found “reasonable grounds to believe the United States committed the war crime of launching indiscriminate attacks resulting in the loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects,” The Hill reports.
Two air strikes the UN considers war crimes
The findings center on two airstrikes carried out on February 28. One strike hit the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab, where Iranian state media said 168 people died, most of them children.
An investigation conducted by The New York Times verified that at least one American missile struck the building because of outdated technology.
Investigators concluded that the school building was the intended point of impact, ruling out an errant strike aimed at a nearby military compound. A second attack hit Lamerd in the southern part of Iran. That strike reportedly killed 22 civilians.
US Central Command denied responsibility for the Lamerd strike. The State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and the Trump administration has not released findings from its own internal military probe.
Iran has committed ‘crimes against humanity’
The UN team also accused Iran’s government of committing crimes against humanity on a “staggering scale” against its own population.
Iranian security forces have over the last two years fired directly into crowds. They tortured detainees and have frequently used the death penalty.
The experts conclude that over 70 people face imminent execution, calling the widespread violence a systematic attack on civilians.
Neither government has cooperated
Both governments refused to fully cooperate with the inquiry from the UN.
Trump has been non-committal when asked about the US involvement in the strikes on the Iranian school in Minab.
“I don’t know that they’re ever going to solve that problem in terms of whose fault it was, because there were missiles flying all over the place,” Trump said back in July. “I don’t think it was us.”
