White House rejects UN report on possible war crimes in Iran

The White House has rejected a report by a United Nations independent fact-finding mission that said there are reasonable grounds to believe the United States committed war crimes during two airstrikes in Iran.

The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran said in a report published on September 17 that there are reasonable grounds to believe U.S. forces committed a war crime during strikes on a school in Minab and a sports facility in Lamerd on February 28.

According to the mission, at least 178 civilians, including women and children, were killed in the two strikes. The Minab strike hit the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school and killed more than 150 people, including around 120 students.

A separate strike on a sports complex and the surrounding residential area in Lamerd killed 22 civilians.

In a strongly worded written response to the report, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly rejected the findings.

“The only party in this conflict that has committed war crimes is the Iranian regime, which has killed thousands of its own people, killed Americans abroad, committed acts of terrorism in the Strait of Hormuz and carried out indiscriminate attacks against its neighbors in the region,” she said.

Kelly also said the UN Human Rights Council “has done nothing for human rights, while for decades it has uttered unserious nonsense.”

U.S. officials have repeatedly said military operations are conducted in accordance with the law of armed conflict and that an investigation is underway.

The United States and Israel launched airstrikes against the Islamic Republic in late February, and Iran retaliated with strikes across the Middle East.

The report is expected to be formally presented to the 47-member UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on September 21.

The mission also said there are reasonable grounds to believe Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity during the crackdown on nationwide protests in December 2025 and January 2026. It cited unlawful killings, arbitrary detentions, torture and other inhumane acts carried out as part of a widespread and systematic attack on civilians.