Deadly Strike Hits Wedding in Southern Iran; Resident Recalls Heartbreak

A U.S. strike in the southern Iranian town of Kuhestak on Tuesday killed five people, including some attending a wedding, according to Iranian media and rights groups. The attack has drawn concern from U.S. officials, who say they are looking into the reports.

Sasan Zarei, a 34-year-old vendor, was outside the town when the explosions occurred. He rushed to help and described the scene as "heartbreaking." "The shoes had been scattered everywhere. One of the kids had their lungs torn out. They are now hospitalized," he said.

Security footage aired by Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency showed fireballs lighting up the night sky. The U.S. military said its bombardment targeted air defenses, radar systems, and maritime assets in the region.

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said Thursday he had been briefed on the reported attack at a wedding and that Washington was "investigating it very fully." He added that the U.S. never targets civilians but "sometimes things happen." A U.S. Central Command spokesman confirmed the military was looking into the reports but declined to say whether a formal investigation had been launched.

Zarei insisted the site was not a military area. "This was not a military area or anything like that," he said, serving a lemon slush in the region's hot and humid weather.

Kuhestak lies along the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic chokepoint that has become a central front in the six-month war. The town is about 30 kilometers from Minab, where a U.S. missile strike on a primary school on Feb. 28 killed more than 150 people, most of them children.