Iran accused the United States on Wednesday of committing a war crime after a missile strike hit a wedding celebration in the coastal town of Kuhestak, near the Strait of Hormuz, killing at least four people, including a young child, and wounding dozens more.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei called the strike, which took place Tuesday night local time, a “war crime,” and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused Washington of deliberately targeting Iranians. Iranian officials compared the incident to a strike on a girls’ school on the war’s opening night that they say killed 160 people.
The Iranian Red Crescent said the strike came shortly after U.S. forces announced fresh attacks on targets linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Footage circulating in Iran on Wednesday showed wedding decorations and debris scattered near a home reduced to rubble.
U.S. Central Command said it was aware of the reports and was looking into the incident, while a CENTCOM spokesman said American forces “never target civilians,” contrasting U.S. conduct with that of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Some analysis pointed to a nearby telecommunications tower as a possible intended target, noting the wedding house stood roughly 112 metres away from it.
President Trump showed little sign of concern in a Truth Social post Tuesday night, writing that he was not trying to force Iran back to the table and that he preferred the current state of affairs, with the U.S. holding what he called near-total control of the Strait of Hormuz while Iran’s economy collapsed.
The incident adds to a rapidly escalating exchange between the two countries after a month-long lull, with the war — now in its seventh month since beginning on February 28 — showing no sign of the diplomatic resolution both sides had briefly pursued under a June memorandum of understanding.
