UN mission finds grounds to believe US committed war crimes in Iran, and Tehran crimes against humanity
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A UN fact-finding mission on Iran said on Thursday it had reasonable grounds to believe the United States was behind two military strikes on a school and sports facility in Iran in February, and that these constituted war crimes, Reuters reported.
It also found that Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity during their deadly crackdown on anti-government protests.
The findings in a new report by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, to be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, examined the US's conduct during the Iran war that began in February and the Iranian government's response to nationwide unrest that begun in late December.
The Iranian and US permanent missions in Geneva did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
US officials have previously said military operations are conducted in accordance with the law of armed conflict, while Iran has consistently rejected allegations of systematic rights violations.
The UN experts said they found reasonable grounds to believe US forces were responsible for an attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in the city of Minab, where more than 150 people were killed, including around 120 schoolchildren, according to Iranian officials.
The attack constituted an indiscriminate attack causing civilian deaths and damage to civilian infrastructure, amounting to a war crime under international law, the mission concluded.
In June, US President Donald Trump said that "nobody" purposefully attacked the girls' school in Iran in February, citing an investigation into the incident.