A United Nations report found "reasonable grounds" that the U.S. committed a war crime when it bombed a primary school in Minab during the opening days of the Iran war.
The document states that at least 157 people were killed in the airstrike, including 123 children who were between six and 13 years old.
The Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School was located about 236 feet from Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval complex. The school began operating in buildings that had been converted from IRGC use in 2016.
The report noted that a wall separated the school from the IRGC facilities. Also, satellite imagery showed that the building was being used as a school and that it was being attended by young children.
"The strike on the primary school was part of an attack on several targets in the adjacent IRGC compound. CCTV footage shows munitions striking the area of the naval base and school and satellite imagery shows seven distinct detonation points at the school and nearby base," the report states.
According to the report, the school was struck twice by U.S. missiles, with a brief pause between strikes. The school was first hit on its lower floor, leading teachers and the principal to move the children to a second-floor prayer room.
"A second munition then struck the upper floor, killing many of the children. Several teachers and the school principal were also killed, all of them women," the report states. "The Mission concludes that the building of the school was the intended point of impact and that the damage did not result from an errant strike or collateral damage from the attack on the adjacent IRGC compound."
In another incident, a U.S. airstrike targeted a sports center in Lamerd. In that strike, 22 people were killed and several civilian buildings, including homes, were damaged. The report notes that based on satellite imagery, the sports center was adjacent to an IRGC compound, but clearly identifiable.
In the school bombing, the mission found that the U.S. relied on outdated information in formulating its targets and that this "went beyond mere negligence."
"Rather, the U.S. directed the strikes at the building of the school while being aware of a substantial risk of striking a civilian object and acting recklessly as regards the possibility that this would happen," the report states.
The report came to a similar conclusion regarding the sports centre bombing. "Irrespective of the intended target of the U.S. strikes in a populated area in Lamerd that hit a sports centre, an adjacent elementary school and residential buildings in the neighbourhood – all civilian objects," it states.
