UN fact-finding mission accuses US of war crimes in Iran airstrikes
A United Nations fact-finding mission has said it has “reasonable grounds” to believe the United States committed war crimes in two airstrikes on a school and a sports centre in Iran.
According to the mission, the two attacks killed at least 178 civilians, including women and children, and damaged civilian facilities.
In a statement on Thursday, September 17, the mission said one of the strikes hit an elementary school in the southern Iranian city of Minab on Feb. 28 this year. Based on the body’s findings, a Tomahawk missile struck the school building in the incident.
In another attack in the city of Lamerd, the fact-finding mission said precision-guided missiles dispersed tungsten pellets over a sports complex and a residential area. The mission said its review of the Feb. 28 attacks formed the main focus of its latest findings.
The UN fact-finding mission stressed that, after reviewing the strikes, it had reached “reasonable grounds” to bring allegations of war crimes against the United States. It did not provide further details on the review process or Washington’s response to the findings.
Minab is located in Hormozgan province and Lamerd in Fars province. UN fact-finding missions are typically set up to examine possible violations of international law and document incidents that have caused widespread harm to civilians.
