US Strike on Wedding in Iran Kills Four, Including Children, State Media Say
A missile struck a home in southern Iran where a wedding celebration was under way, killing four people including two children, according to Iranian state media and a human rights group. The US military said it was looking into the report.
The attack took place in the coastal town of Kuhestak, near the Strait of Hormuz, on Tuesday night. Iranian state media said two women and two children, aged four and 16, were killed and at least 68 people were wounded. The Balochistan Human Rights Documentation Network, however, reported that the 16-year-old was killed by shrapnel while riding a motorcycle near a communications tower that was also struck, rather than at the wedding.
The home belonged to Ali Mallahi, a fisherman whose daughter was getting married. He told state television that the missile destroyed the ceiling of his house. “The missile completely destroyed the ceiling of the house,” he said, pointing to a hole. He added that a neighbouring house sharing the same yard was also hit.
Videos aired by Iranian media showed a deep crater, badly damaged walls and a collapsed roof. Debris, including shoes belonging to wedding guests, was scattered across the area. Security footage carried by Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency showed fireballs lighting up the night sky.
One man at a hospital in nearby Minab, where the wounded were taken, described the scene: “Blocks were falling and hitting people’s heads. Many small children and women were terribly injured.” Iranian media showed at least two girls and a woman hospitalised with bandages, one child appearing to be in shock.
The strike was part of the latest round of American bombardment in southern Iran, which the US military said was targeting air defences, radar systems and maritime assets. Kuhestak lies along the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway that has become a central front in the conflict, now in its sixth month.
The town is about 30 km from Minab, where a missile strike on a primary school on 28 February, the opening day of the conflict, killed more than 100 children, according to Iranian officials. That attack was also attributed to US forces.
US Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins said the military was looking into the reports of the wedding strike but declined to say whether a formal investigation had been launched.
In addition to the four deaths at the wedding, Iran reported that four members of its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and 10 members of the volunteer Basij forces were killed in the latest round of attacks. State media said 108 people were wounded overall.
The rights group, which maintains contacts with Baluch communities in the area, said at least two missiles hit a communications tower at Kuhestak’s port and another struck a pier. The port is about 100 metres from Mallahi’s house.
Most residents of Kuhestak belong to Iran’s Baluch ethnic minority, according to state media. The remote region has seen limited independent information, making verification of events difficult.
The reported death toll at the wedding initially stood at five, according to Ahmad Nafisi, the province’s deputy governor, who spoke to Iranian state television shortly after the attack. No explanation was given for the revised figure of four.
