The United States, a country with a history of withdrawing from the Human Rights Council, on September 18, 2026 — just one day after the release of the report by the Independent International Fact-Finding Committee on Iran regarding the war crimes committed by this country against Iran — officially announced the termination of its membership and participation in the UN Human Rights Council.
Trump, during his first presidential term in 2018, also withdrew from this UN body by making baseless claims such as the Human Rights Council’s bias against the Zionist regime; the US rejoined the UN Human Rights Council in 2021 during Biden’s presidency.
In February 2025, he once again halted participation in the UN Human Rights Council by issuing an executive order, did not pursue membership, and cut off its funding.
Nevertheless, numerous experts and observers declared that the end of US membership in the UN Human Rights Council on the day after the release of the report by the Independent International Fact-Finding Committee on Iran was directly linked to this committee’s report and described it as a reaction to the findings related to US attacks on Minab and Lamerd; some analyses also described the timing of the official announcement as a sign of rejection of the Human Rights Council’s findings.
Kazem Gharibabadi, Deputy for Legal and International Affairs of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote in a message posted on X: History will not forget; in Minab, a school was stained with the blood of 168 children, and in Lamerd, a sports field was turned into a killing ground for civilians.
Gharibabadi stated: Now everyone confirms that what happened in Minab and Lamerd was a blatant war crime, not an operational error; the US cannot escape its responsibility by withdrawing from the Human Rights Council.
