Iran official says US cannot evade war crime responsibility by leaving UN Human Rights Council

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, Kazem Gharibabadi, said on Friday, September 18, that the United States cannot evade responsibility for alleged war crimes by withdrawing from the UN Human Rights Council. His statement followed reports that the US had formally ended its membership and participation in the council.

Gharibabadi said history would not forget the incidents in Minab and Lamerd, where he said a school was stained with the blood of 168 children and a sports field was turned into a killing ground for civilians. He added that everyone now acknowledges that what happened in Minab and Lamerd was an apparent war crime, not an operational error. Writing on X, the deputy foreign minister said the United States could not escape responsibility by withdrawing from the Human Rights Council.

The United States announced Thursday night that it had officially ended its membership and participation in the UN Human Rights Council. The US State Department accused the council of promoting what it called "anti-American rhetoric" and taking an appeasement-oriented approach toward regimes accused of repressing their populations.

The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran said Thursday that there were "reasonable grounds" to conclude that US forces were responsible for two attacks in Iran, including a strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh School in Minab and a sports complex in Lamerd, and that the attacks could constitute war crimes. The fact-finding mission said the school was a clearly identifiable civilian building and that it had found no evidence indicating that it was being used for military purposes at the time of the attack.

According to Mehr News, the statements from Iranian officials and the UN fact-finding mission highlight ongoing international scrutiny of the incidents in Minab and Lamerd, and the US decision to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council has drawn criticism from Iranian authorities.