DOMINANT ANGLE
Pretoria is gauging the scope of this report in light of its own commitment to international accountability: the US refusal to recognize the authority of the Human Rights Council is holding South African attention, just like the crimes against humanity uncovered on the Iranian side.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
More than 150 people were killed in the US strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab, according to Iranian authorities.
- 02
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly stated that the Human Rights Council "has accomplished nothing for human rights".
- 03
The report is to be presented to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, putting Washington and Tehran under scrutiny from member states.
ANALYSIS
Pretoria, September 18, 2026. The International Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, mandated by the United Nations, has concluded that there are "reasonable grounds to believe" that American forces committed war crimes during two strikes in February in Iran, report Daily Maverick and SABC News, which are relaying the conclusions transmitted to the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The first strike targeted the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab, in the south of the country: more than 150 people were killed there, according to Iranian authorities. The second strike hit a sports complex and a residential neighborhood in Lamerd. For UN investigators, the fact that Washington did not update its targeting bases concerning the school, which is located near a naval installation of the Revolutionary Guards, goes beyond simple negligence.
The same report also finds that Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity in the repression of anti-government protests that began at the end of December: killings, massive arbitrary detentions, and prolonged internet shutdowns. Neither Washington nor Tehran is spared.
The American reaction occupies a central place in South Africa's handling of the file. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly judged that the Human Rights Council "has accomplished nothing for human rights", affirming that only Iran had committed war crimes in this conflict. The Pentagon says its investigation is "ongoing" and has "nothing to announce for the moment". The Geneva mission recalls that it is an investigative body, not a judicial one: its findings can feed into prosecutions before national jurisdictions or the International Criminal Court.
For the South African press, this contrast between the American rejection of UN mechanisms and Pretoria's historical adherence to human rights multilateralism gives the report a scope that goes beyond the Iran-United States conflict: it questions the solidity of the bodies that South Africa regularly invokes in its own approaches, from the International Criminal Court to the International Court of Justice. The report is to be presented to the Human Rights Council on Monday, where Washington and Tehran will again be under the scrutiny of member states.
