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No Timeline for War
U.S. Vice President JD Vance declined to offer a prospective timeline for the end of the US-Israeli war on Iran, telling reporters, "When you ask, 'When will this end?', you’re asking me a question like: When will the Iranians stop shooting at ships?"
“When you ask, 'When will this end?', you’re asking me a question like: When will the Iranians stop shooting at ships?”
Vance said major combat operations only lasted "about six weeks" and argued the U.S. has succeeded in degrading Iran’s defence production capabilities.
He also said the U.S. would not negotiate with Iran while attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz continue, adding, "The president's been very clear: We're not talking to them, and we're not going to talk to them unless they stop shooting at commercial shipping."
The remarks came as Iran and the United States exchanged intense fire in the months-long conflict, with Vance pointing to the Strait of Hormuz as a focal point and accusing Iran of preventing the flow of traffic through the vital trade route.
Vance further said the U.S. was investigating a reported strike on a wedding party in the Iranian coastal city of Sirik, while casting doubt on Iranian accounts and telling reporters, "We’re investigating it because obviously we care. We want to know,"
Wedding Strike Dispute
Vance told reporters he was "extremely sceptical" of accounts that a U.S. strike hit a wedding party, saying, "I wouldn't call it a war."
Reuters reported that Vance said the United States is investigating an airstrike that Iran says struck a wedding party in Iran, and Reuters quoted Vance: "We're investigating it because obviously we care. We want to know,".
Iranian state media said four people died and nearly 70 were wounded, while Reuters added that Iranian state TV reported a fifth person, a 22-year-old woman, had since died in hospital.
The AP described a missile hit on a home in Kuhestak where dozens were gathered for the wedding of a fisherman’s daughter, with Iranian state media saying two women and two children, aged 4 and 16, were killed and at least 68 were wounded.
In a separate account, RFE/RL reported that Iranian officials said dozens of others were wounded in the alleged September 1 strike in Kuhestak and quoted CENTCOM spokesman Tim Hawkins saying, "the US military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC,"
Escalation and Accountability
The dispute over the wedding strike sits inside a broader cycle of tit-for-tat attacks, with Vance saying the U.S. was probing the incident while insisting that "The United States never targets civilians in combat. We never will do that."
“The United States never targets civilians in combat. We never will do that.”
RFE/RL reported that Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei labeled the alleged wedding strike a "war crime" and vowed Tehran would respond "with firmness," while Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf called Washington the "Great Satan."
The AP said the explosion hit as a guest arrived at the wedding, quoting a man at the hospital: "Blocks were falling and hitting people’s heads. And many small children and women that were there were terribly injured. So many,".
AP also reported that a weapons expert told the Associated Press that images of fragments indicated an "American air-delivered guided weapon," and that N.R. Jenzen-Jones initially identified the weapon as a SLAM-ER cruise missile.
Across the accounts, the stakes are immediate and human: Reuters said the Iranian reports included nearly 70 wounded, while the AP said at least 68 were wounded and described the communications tower and port in Kuhestak being targeted in the same round of strikes.