DOMINANT ANGLE
Tehran takes away from the UN report confirmation of American war crimes in Minab and Lamerd, more so than the finding regarding its own repression.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
The UN mission found "reasonable grounds to believe" that the United States committed a war crime during the February 28 strike on the Minab school, where more than 150 people, including around 120 schoolchildren, were killed according to Iranian authorities.
- 02
A second strike targeted by the report hit a sports complex and a residential neighborhood in Lamerd, where ammunition scattered tungsten pellets.
- 03
The same report concludes that the repression of protests caused killings in all 31 provinces and the death of at least 221 children, with an internet blackout imposed on January 8 lasting over five months.
ANALYSIS
Tehran, Friday, September 18, 2026. The report published Thursday by the International Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, mandated by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, offers the Islamic Republic an unexpected piece of evidence: confirmation, by an international body, that the United States probably committed war crimes last February. The Mehr agency reports that the mission found "reasonable grounds to believe that the United States committed the war crime of launching indiscriminate attacks resulting in the loss of human life or injury to civilians, or damage to civilian property," targeting the February 28 strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab, where Iranian authorities counted over 150 dead, including around 120 schoolchildren, as well as a second strike on a sports complex and residential neighborhood in Lamerd, where munitions scattered tungsten pellets. According to the mission, the failure to update American targeting bases regarding the school, located near a naval installation of the Revolutionary Guards, goes beyond simple negligence. The same report, in its other part, concludes that Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity in suppressing the protests launched at the end of December: documented killings in all 31 provinces, at least 221 children killed, tens of thousands of arbitrary detentions, and an internet blackout imposed on January 8, which remained in effect for over five months. This second finding, documented by Iran International, is not included in the Mehr agency's account, which only addresses the part of the report implicating Washington. Tehran, which rejects accusations of systematic violations, highlights the American part of the report as validation of its version of the February strikes, while Washington rejects the entire document, its officials having always claimed to respect the law of armed conflict.
