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Wedding strike and accusations
Iran accused the United States of committing a “war crime” after a missile strike hit a house in Kouhestak, in Hormozgan province, during a family wedding, killing at least four people including a child and injuring dozens more.
“Iran has accused the United States of committing a “war crime””
Iran’s Red Crescent Society said shrapnel from the US missile tore through the building and later revised the death toll down from an initial five to four, while the father of the bride, Ali Mallahi, told state television: “Thank God the casualties were not higher.”
The Guardian reported that among the dead were a four-year-old child, Amir-Ali Karimi, and a 16-year-old, Mohammad Mollahi, and said the wedding ceremony was held in a home in Kuhestak, Hormozgan province, late on Tuesday when a US missile struck.
The US military said it does not target civilians and that the strikes responded to “recent attempted” Iranian attacks, while the Guardian said US Central Command (Centcom) described the overnight strikes as focused on Iranian military targets including air defence sites, radars and maritime assets.
Retaliation and competing death tolls
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson called the US attack a “war crime” and said Iran “will respond to these savage crimes with firmness,” as the Guardian reported that a man filming the aftermath said: “You wicked people have attacked people’s homes and turned their wedding ceremony into a funeral.”
The death toll figures diverged across outlets, with Newsbook saying Iran’s Red Crescent revised the toll from five to four while Reuters cited at least four and Al Jazeera’s correspondents at three local hospitals counted at least 41, and the Independent said Iran’s Red Crescent Society reported 67 injured.
The Guardian said Iran responded by launching drones and missiles on US bases across the Middle East, including in Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE, and reported that Iran’s military spokesperson, Lt Col Ebrahim Zolfaghari, vowed “heavier, broader, and more crushing and devestating” retaliation.
Saudi Gazette said Iran’s Revolutionary Guard reported four soldiers died in a US attack on Kermanshah province while at least five civilians were killed and dozens wounded when a US missile hit a home hosting a wedding in southern Sirik county, and it quoted Ebrahim Azizi warning: “Make no mistake: these crimes will not go unpunished.”
International legal steps and regional risk
Iran’s Red Crescent Society wrote to the International Criminal Court seeking an investigation into the Kouhestak strike, while Türkiye Today said the IRCS urged the ICC to investigate the US missile strike on a wedding ceremony in Kuhestak, Hormozgan province, calling it a potential war crime.
“warrants an independent, impartial, thorough, and effective investigation”
The IRCS said the incident raised “serious concerns under international humanitarian law” and that it “warrants an independent, impartial, thorough, and effective investigation,” and it also argued that intentionally launching an attack while knowing expected civilian deaths or injuries would be clearly excessive could result in individual criminal responsibility under the Rome Statute.
The renewed exchange of strikes ended a month-long lull and revived fears of wider hostilities, with Newsbook saying the renewed fighting threatens to reignite a war Washington had hoped to keep simmering at a low intensity until November’s midterm elections.
Newsbook also said the violence rattled global markets, with oil prices climbing to more than one-month highs, European gas futures hitting their highest level since 2023, and US Treasury yields rising as investors weighed the risk of a wider conflict disrupting energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical oil chokepoints.