An independent United Nations investigation into human rights violations in Iran said on Wednesday that attacks by Israel and the United States on Iran, as well as Tehran’s retaliatory strikes across the region, violate the United Nations Charter. The mission also expressed shock at a strike that hit a girls’ school in southern Iran, with reports indicating that many of the victims were children.
The United Nations Charter prohibits the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.
Findings of the UN fact-finding mission
“These attacks, which were followed by Iran’s retaliatory strikes across the region, run counter to the UN Charter,” the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran said in a statement.
The mission expressed deep shock over a strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ school in Minab, in southern Iran, on Saturday, the first day of the US and Israeli attacks. It said most of the victims appeared to have been schoolgirls aged between seven and 12.
Earlier on Wednesday, a separate UN panel of experts said that more than 160 children had been killed, citing reports.
Human rights concerns inside Iran
The fact-finding mission said the Iranian population is now caught between a large-scale military campaign that may continue for weeks and a government with a long record of human rights abuses.
According to the mission, tens of thousands of people were detained and face torture and the death penalty following a crackdown on protests that began on 28 December 2025 in response to the country’s economic crisis.
It warned that protesters currently detained in prisons could be placed at risk by any US-Israeli strikes. A British couple jailed in Iran said on Tuesday that explosions had shaken Evin prison, where they are being held, and that their wing had sustained damage as the conflict intensified.
The statement also said that the killing of dozens of Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in US-Israeli airstrikes is not an acceptable means of delivering justice under international law.
Source: United Nations