Iranian Claims and Response

The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), a humanitarian group, reported that shrapnel from a missile hit the ceremony at a home in Sirik on Tuesday, prompting Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei to label it a “war crime.”

US missiles were fired the same day over “attempted attacks” by Iran on American forces, a US Central Command spokesperson reiterated that the US “never targets civilians.”

Vance’s Scepticism and Investigation

Vance, speaking on Thursday, said he was “extremely sceptical” about reports of the alleged strike but confirmed the US would investigate; he noted that Iranian state media has not been reliable in reporting the conflict so far.

“I will say that the Iranian state media has not been a very good scribe about what’s happened in the conflict thus far — So I’m extremely sceptical of this,” Vance told a White House briefing.

Iran’s Response and Casualty Reports

In response to the alleged strike, Iran has launched fresh attacks on US bases in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates; the IRCS reported that 67 people were injured when shrapnel from the missile hit a family wedding ceremony, killing at least four people. Iranian state media added that a fifth person, a 22-year-old woman, had died in hospital shortly after the incident.

The four people killed were named locally as Zarkhatoon Taheri, 50; Kolsum Mallahi Nazhdnia, 43; Mohammad Mallahi, 16; and Amirali Karimi, four, while BBC Verify confirmed a video and two images taken on Tuesday near Kuhestak’s coast that showed a telecommunications tower being destroyed. Other videos from Tuesday and Wednesday showed severely damaged houses about 130m (427ft) north of the tower.

Plus, BBC Persian Forensics found the telecommunications tower was about 112m (367 ft) from the house where the wedding was being held, Fighting with Iran has continued for over half a year since the US and Israel launched a joint attack on the country on 28 February.