GENEVA, 18 September 2026 (Nosheen): A United Nations fact-finding mission on Iran has found reasonable grounds to believe that US forces were responsible for two military strikes in Iran in February that constituted war crimes, while also concluding that Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity during a deadly crackdown on anti-government protests. The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran said its investigation found reasonable grounds to believe that US forces carried out a strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab, where more than 150 people were reportedly killed, including around 120 schoolchildren. The mission concluded that the attack was indiscriminate, caused civilian deaths and damaged civilian infrastructure, amounting to a war crime under international law. It reached a similar conclusion regarding a US strike on a sports centre in Lamerd, which reportedly killed and injured 22 civilians and damaged nearby residential buildings and a school. The mission also found that Iranian authorities carried out a widespread and systematic attack against civilians during protests that began in late December, involving unlawful killings, torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances and severe restrictions on freedom of expression. The report said the death toll was likely significantly higher than official figures of 3,038 people killed and 25,000 injured, although the mission could not independently verify the figures. The findings will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, while the mission stressed that fact-finding bodies are investigative rather than judicial institutions and do not initiate criminal cases.