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Wedding strike under probe
A reported U.S. strike hit a home hosting a wedding in the coastal town of Kuhestak in Sirik County along the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday night, with Iranian officials saying four people were killed and more than 60 were wounded, while Reuters later reported that a Reuters-commissioned analysis concluded the explosion was likely the result of a direct hit by American ammunition.
““We’re investigating it because obviously we care. We want to know,””
Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the United States was investigating the incident, telling reporters in Washington, “We’re investigating it because obviously we care. We want to know,” and he added that “If we do make mistakes, again, this is a big difference between us and Iran, when our military makes mistakes, they learn from them to try to get better from them.”
Iranian state media and Iranian officials also said the strike wounded nearly 70 people and that a 22-year-old woman died in hospital, raising the death toll to five, as mourners held funerals outside the village of Kuhestak on Thursday (Sept 3).
The strike came during a new wave of U.S. strikes along Iran’s Strait of Hormuz coast, with CENTCOM saying it carried out multiple strikes across southern Iran on Sept. 1 targeting Revolutionary Guard air-defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine-laying capabilities and communications sites.
In the same reporting cycle, Vance also disputed whether the conflict should be called a war, saying, “I wouldn’t call it a war,” while he said major combat operations ended after about six weeks.
Competing casualty counts
Reuters said Iranian state television reported a 22-year-old woman died in hospital after the strike hit a home during the wedding, bringing the death toll to five, while the BBC reported that Iranian sources said four people were killed and at least 68 others injured and that later official Iranian television announced on Thursday the death of a 22-year-old woman in hospital from her wounds, raising the death toll to five.
At the same time, the Jerusalem Post described Reuters-verified weapons analysis concluding the incident “likely resulted from a direct hit by a US munition and not a ricochet off another target,” and it quoted a retired British Army brigadier, Gareth Collett, saying, “Given the number of bombs that have been dropped, this does occur from time to time even with the most sophisticated guidance systems.”
The Associated Press reported that U.S. Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins said the U.S. military was looking into the reports of the strike on a wedding and would not say if the military had launched a formal investigation, while the AP also said Iranian state media said two women and two children, aged 4 and 16, were killed and at least 68 were wounded.
NBC News similarly said Iranian officials accused the U.S. military of striking a wedding party in the southern part of the country Tuesday night, killing at least four people and injuring dozens more, and it framed the incident as part of the broader Iran-U.S. exchange.
Vance’s remarks were echoed in other coverage, with the Hill quoting him saying he was “extremely skeptical” of the reports that a U.S. missile struck a home where people gathered to celebrate a wedding, and it added that he said the United States never targets civilians in combat.
Broader war and next steps
The wedding strike investigation unfolded alongside continued U.S.-Iran hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz theater, with CBS News reporting that traffic in the Strait of Hormuz remains well below pre-war levels and that last week there were 102 transits compared with 126 the week before, according to Lloyd's List Intelligence.
“We're not talking to them, and we're not going to talk to them unless they stop shooting at commercial shipping”
Vance said the United States would not negotiate with Iran while attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz continue, stating, “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,” and he also told reporters he did not know when the conflict would end.
The Reuters report also said the Trump administration faces growing domestic pressure to end a war that is adversely affecting its approval ratings ahead of the November midterm elections, while Reuters noted that the U.S. has not claimed responsibility for the wedding incident.
In parallel, Reuters reported that Iran retaliated on Wednesday with attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain, and carried out additional strikes earlier Thursday claiming to have targeted another U.S. base in Kuwait, where the Kuwaiti army said its air defenses intercepted missiles and drones.
The BBC added that the incident renewed attention to civilian casualties in the six-month-old war, recalling that it came more than six months after a missile struck an Iranian primary school in Minab on Feb. 28, killing more than 175 children and teachers according to Iranian officials.