GENEVA, March 4 - An independent United Nations fact-finding mission has condemned a series of recent military actions involving the United States, Israel and Iran as inconsistent with the U.N. Charter, saying the strikes violated the prohibition on the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.
In a formal statement, the U.N. Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran said that the U.S. and Israeli attacks and the subsequent Iranian reprisals across the region "run counter to the UN Charter." The probe singled out one attack that it said caused particular concern: a strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls school in Minab in southern Iran, which occurred on Saturday, the first day of the U.S. and Israeli operations.
The mission reported that most of the casualties at the school appeared to have been girls between seven and 12 years old. A separate U.N. panel of experts, cited earlier on Wednesday, said that reports indicated more than 160 children had been killed.
The fact-finding body said civilians in Iran are now caught between a broadening military campaign that may continue for weeks and an internal government apparatus with a documented history of human rights violations. The probe noted that tens of thousands of people have been detained since a brutal crackdown on protests that began on December 28, 2025, protests that erupted in response to the country's economic crisis.
The U.N. statement highlighted the peril facing protesters held in detention, saying those currently imprisoned could be placed at further risk by ongoing U.S.-Israeli strikes. The report referenced accounts from a British couple jailed in Iran who described explosions shaking Evin prison and damage to their wing as the conflict intensified.
In addition, the fact-finding mission stated that the killing of dozens of Iranian officials - which the mission says have included Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - in the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes cannot be considered an acceptable means of delivering justice under international law.
The U.N. panel's assessment offers a stark depiction of a population exposed both to external military operations and to domestic repression, with the mission underscoring the tension between security operations and the protection of fundamental rights. The probe's conclusions frame the recent strikes as violations of the international legal framework embodied in the U.N. Charter and highlight immediate humanitarian concerns, particularly for detained protesters and children affected by the strikes.
Context limitations: The mission's statement and the separate U.N. panel's reporting are the sources for casualty figures and descriptions of detention and damages; the fact-finding mission's findings and the accounts cited were presented by those U.N. bodies in their statements.