A reported US airstrike on a wedding celebration in southern Iran killed at least four people and injured dozens, according to Iranian authorities, who said the attack struck a family home in Kuhestak, Hormozgan province.
The incident took place late on Tuesday, September 1, in Sirik county, close to the strategically important Strait of Hormuz. Iranian officials later said the death toll had risen to five, while the county governor reported that 63 people were injured.
Iranian state media said the gathering was hit by three missiles. The Iranian Red Crescent released footage showing a large hole in the roof of the house, with shattered masonry and debris scattered through nearby alleyways.
Further videos showed injured children being treated in hospital. One man, who appeared to have suffered a head injury, said he had been travelling to the wedding when he heard fighter jets overhead.
“As we arrived there, an explosion happened. It was really powerful, so powerful that even before I arrived there, pieces and debris from the building smashed into my head and face and I passed out,” he said in footage carried by Iranian media.
“Lots of children and women were horribly injured. All the people were ordinary people,” he added.
Ali Mallahi, the father of the bride, described the incident as “a very saddening” one. “I really don’t know what to say,” he said. “Thank God the casualties were not higher.”
Iranian officials identified several of those killed, including a four-year-old child and a 16-year-old boy. The Red Crescent said most of the casualties were women and children.
US Central Command said it was investigating the reports, which it said originated from Iranian state media. Its spokesman, Captain Tim Hawkins, said: “The US military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC,” referring to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Central Command said the latest wave of US strikes had targeted IRGC air-defence systems, radar installations, maritime assets, mine-laying capabilities and communications sites. It did not specify what American forces had been aiming at in Kuhestak.
