Renewed tension has erupted between the United States and the UN Human Rights Council following the publication of a report by an independent fact-finding mission on the war in Iran.
The American administration rejected the findings of the report, reiterating that it does not consider the Human Rights Council credible. The State Department accused the body of promoting, in the American formulation, «anti-American» and «anti-Semitic» rhetoric, while simultaneously appearing lenient toward authoritarian regimes.
US withdrawal was decided in 2025
The current confrontation does not mark a new American withdrawal from the Council.
President Donald Trump had signed an executive order on February 4, 2025, under which the US ceased participating in the UN Human Rights Council, decided not to seek re-election to the body, and halted its allocated funding for its operations.
That decision essentially reinstated the policy that Donald Trump had pursued during his first presidential term, when the United States withdrew from the Council in 2018.
The report that triggered Washington's reaction
The new report by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran concerns, among other things, two American military strikes conducted in Iran on February 28, 2026.
The UN experts report that there are «reasonable grounds» to believe that the United States is responsible for attacks on a school in the city of Minab and on a sports complex in the Lamerd area, and that these specific actions may constitute war crimes.
The strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh school
The report gives particular weight to the attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab.
According to the fact-finding mission, more than 150 people were killed by the strike, among them approximately 120 children.
Investigators argue that American forces did not do everything practically feasible to verify that the building constituted a legitimate military target prior to the attack.
The report further states that the school building bore clear characteristics of an educational facility, such as signs, children's murals, and play areas.
Donald Trump had stated in June that no one deliberately targeted a school, while the Pentagon had announced an investigation into the incident. The findings of the American military investigation have not been made public.
Second strike in Lamerd
The UN mission also examined an attack on a sports complex and residential area in Lamerd.
According to the report, 22 civilians were killed by that specific strike. Investigators assessed that the sports center was visibly separated from a nearby installation of the IRGC.
The American CENTCOM has denied conducting a strike inside the city of Lamerd on that day.
Heavy accusations against Iran as well
The report is not limited, however, to the actions of the United States.
The same fact-finding mission accuses the Iranian authorities of crimes against humanity during the suppression of anti-government demonstrations that erupted in late 2025 and continued into 2026.
Among the violations documented are unlawful killings, torture, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and severe restrictions on freedom of expression.
Tehran rejects the accusations and maintains that much of the violence during the demonstrations was caused by groups that, according to the Iranian government, enjoyed external backing.
Washington: «We do not consider the findings credible»
The Donald Trump administration rejected the credibility of the investigation, linking its stance to longstanding US criticism toward the Human Rights Council.
The State Department maintained that the American withdrawal from the Council is due to what Washington views as persistent politicization, bias against the US and Israel, and leniency toward governments with a grave record of human rights abuses.
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