Iran wedding deaths likely caused by US hit
An explosion that ripped through a wedding celebration in southern Iran on Tuesday, killing four people and injuring at least 68 others, likely resulted from a direct hit by a US munition and not a ricochet off another target, according to an analysis by weapons experts who reviewed images and video verified by Reuters.
The incident in the small town of Kuhestak has reignited concerns about the civilian toll in the US war with Iran and marks the most dramatic case since a missile struck an Iranian primary school in February, killing scores of children and teachers inside.
The US Central Command had announced its forces carried out multiple strikes across Iran's south on September 1, targeting Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps air defence sites, radar systems, and communications facilities. The barrage came in retaliation for earlier Iranian attacks on US military assets around the Gulf.
On Thursday, US President JD Vance said the United States was investigating the strike. "We're investigating it because obviously we care. We want to know," Vance said during a White House press briefing.
The US military said it was aware of reports and was looking into them.
Iran's delegation to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On the night of the attacks, dozens of residents had gathered in a home in Kuhestak for a wedding ceremony, according to eyewitnesses. During the party, a munition likely struck the building's roof.
Reuters shared video and images of the incident with four military weapons experts who said the damage was consistent with a direct hit, as opposed to secondary damage from a munition ricocheting off a separate target.
Three of the experts said the munition was likely a US weapon, rather than an errant Iranian air defence missile.
After the strike, bloody shoes lay amid the rubble, and wedding decorations that are common in that part of Iran were strewn about, the images show.
One eyewitness sent a voice note to Reuters moments after the strike, saying: "Kuhestak is destroyed. Four, five, ten houses were destroyed. Many people are under the rubble. God help us."
Local residents spoke on condition of anonymity.
Two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the US military had carried out strikes in the area of Kuhestak on September 1, specifically targeting the town's telecommunications tower.
That tower is roughly 135 meters from the site of the wedding celebration, according to satellite imagery. The tower was hit at approximately 9:30pm local time, according to Iranian media.
The count of four deaths and 68 injuries came from Balochestan Human Rights Documentation Network and Haalvsh, which monitor and document human rights abuses.
Three of the people killed were guests of the wedding – Kolsoom Mollahi Najhandania, 43; Zarkhatoon Taheri, 50; and four-year-old Amir Mohammad Karimi – according to the groups. The fourth person, 16-year-old Mohammad Mallahi, was killed while riding his motorcycle near the communications tower.
The names have also been confirmed in Iranian media.
The incident comes more than six months after a missile destroyed a primary school in Minab on February 28, hours after the start of the US and Israeli attacks on Iran that launched the current conflict. That hit killed more than 175 children and teachers, according to Iranian officials.
Meanwhile, US Donald Trump has slammed the American left and the Democrats in a post on Truth Social, claiming they would "rather have us lose the war in Iran than have President Donald J Trump win the war for America".
"These are very sick people who suffer from serious TDS, sometimes referred to as Trump Derangement Syndrome," he adds.
Separately, Anadolu reports that the US' Strategic Petroleum Reserve has fallen to 286.6 million barrels - its lowest level since 1982.
Since the US launched its war on Iran, 30 per cent of the 415m barrel stockpile have been lost.