<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The U.N. fact-finding mission on Iran has reported finding "reasonable grounds" to conclude that the U.S. military committed war crimes during two bombings in Iran that allegedly resulted in civilian casualties.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, established by the U.N. Human Rights Council in 2022, released its report on the conditions faced by Iranian civilians due to both U.S. attacks and state-sanctioned violence by Iran on Thursday.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">According to the report, "The Mission finds 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."</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The report specifically mentions two U.S. strikes. The first occurred in the early hours of the war, where an alleged U.S. strike in Minab hit a school located on a military base, resulting in the deaths of more than 100 children. U.S. Central Command has initiated an investigation into this strike but has not yet released its findings. Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander, has committed to providing a public, nonclassified report of the investigation's results.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The second strike attributed to U.S. forces occurred in Lamerd, Iran. The report details that Tomahawk missile strikes targeted the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab, killing over 150 people, including approximately 120 children. Another airstrike involved Precision Strike Missiles that dispersed tungsten pellets over a sports complex and residential area in Lamerd, resulting in the deaths of 22 civilians.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In April, the New York Times reported that the United States had bombed 22 schools and 17 healthcare facilities during the early stages of the war, although Cooper later denied these allegations during his testimony before Congress.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Cooper stated, "We spent the weekend, myself and the staff, we looked into all 39 incidents that were outlined in the article. My assessment and our staff confirmed, only one of them correlated with a U.S. strike. That was the strike in Minab on the girls’ school. It is an active IRGC base. The other 38 instances did not involve U.S. munitions."</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Recent reports from Iranian state media indicated that a U.S. strike in early September hit a house, killing several people attending a wedding. CENTCOM spokesman Commander Tim Hawkins acknowledged awareness of these reports and stated, "The U.S. military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC," referring to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">CENTCOM has not responded to inquiries regarding the status of the civilian harm investigation into the Minab strike or whether a formal investigation has been initiated into the September 1 strike.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Pentagon has made significant changes under Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to its civilian harm mitigation strategy. Several Democrats have expressed concerns about reductions in these efforts and whether they contributed to the Minab school strike.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The U.N. mission also reported that state security forces killed civilians during a crackdown on dissent this year, describing the scale of violence as "staggering" across all 31 provinces.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The report noted that tens of thousands of individuals were subjected to arbitrary arrests and detention, facing torture, solitary confinement, and denial of legal counsel, marking an unprecedented escalation in repressive efforts compared to past crackdowns.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The relationship between the Trump administration and the United Nations has been contentious, with President Trump frequently criticizing the organization for its perceived ineffectiveness and disagreeing with many of its priorities.</p>