‘Brutal attack’: US missile hits wedding reception in Sirik, Iran – What happened, casualties and what to know | Today’s news
US-Iran War: A US missile hit a house in Sirik, southern Iran, where dozens of people had gathered to celebrate the wedding of a fisherman’s daughter, according to a human rights group and Iranian media, as reported by the AP news agency.
The attack killed four people, two women and two children, and injured more than 60.
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Esmaeil Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, was quoted by Al Jazeera as saying the “brutal” attack that hit a residence in the town of Kuhestak early on September 2 was a “war crime”.
“The truth about this illegal elected war – and the real face of the war crime – is in Sirik, where a wedding ceremony was brutally bombed as part of America’s desperate attempt to cover up its failure,” Baghaei wrote on X.
Videos shared by the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) showed the building with broken walls and windows and debris strewn on the ground. The rights group also released images of several children being treated in hospital. Baghaei also shared the visuals.
The IRCS has sent a letter to the International Criminal Court calling for legal action following the US missile strike in southern Sirik.
“Given the reported civilian nature of the site as the site of a family wedding ceremony, as well as the presence of civilians at the site, the incident is of grave concern under international humanitarian law and requires an independent, impartial, thorough and effective investigation,” the IRCS letter quoted Al Jazeera as saying.
The injured were taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Minab and were “in a stable condition”, Reza Shahidiyan, governor of Sirik county, told state broadcaster IRIB.
Explosions rocked Kuhestak
Heavy explosions shook the coastal town of Kuhestak Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, and security footage carried by Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency showed fireballs lighting up the night sky. It came amid the latest round of US bombing in southern Iran, which the US military said was targeting air defenses, radar systems and naval assets.
Kuhestak is one of a number of small towns that dot the barren coastline along the Strait of Hormuz, a critical point that has become a central front in the six-month war. Kuhestak is located about 30 kilometers from the town of Minab, where more than 100 children were killed in a US rocket attack that hit an elementary school on February 28, the day the war launched by the US and Israel began.
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US Central Command spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins said the US military was investigating reports of a wedding strike. He would not say whether the military had opened a formal investigation.
What did Centcom say?
A spokesman for US Central Command (Centcom) was quoted by the BBC as saying it “never targets civilians”, adding that it was aware of the reports. Centcom spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins told the BBC he was aware of Iranian state media reports of the attack in Sirik.
“Unlike the IRGC, the US military never targets civilians,” he added.
Centcom said the attacks on Iran followed “recent attempted attacks” by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) against US forces and commercial shipping in the key waterway of the Strait of Hormuz, which normally passes through about 20% of global oil and gas traffic.
Iranian authorities said another 14 people were killed elsewhere. In response, Iran fired missiles and drones at American targets in Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, and Bahrain.
Iranian media also reported explosions in the southern provinces of Hormozgan, Sistan-Baluchestan, Kerman and Khuzestan.
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Iran’s parliament speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said it was another attack that showed the US was “Satan”.
The brutal attack, which hit a residence in the town of Kuhestak early on September 2, was a “war crime”. – Esmaeil Baghaei
At least two rockets hit a communications tower and another hit a jetty at the port, Moein Arjomand, director of the Balochistan Human Rights Documentation Network, told the AP, citing witnesses who spoke to his group.
