The US defence ministry is investigating the strong possibility that an deadly airstrike on a wedding in Iran was the result of a US bomb missing a nearby target, according to a report.
Iranian authorities say the strike on the wedding last Tuesday killed at least four and wounded at least 68, as part of a wave of attacks as Washington and Tehran exchanged the heaviest strikes since July.
A person familiar with the operation has now told The Washington Post that the Pentagon is investigating the strike. Investigators are also looking at the possibility that the explosion occurred after an air defence missile fell out of the sky, but the source said this explanation was highly unlikely.
The strike took place on Tuesday night at around 9.30pm in Kuhestak, on the southern coast of Iran, prompting the Iranian Red Crescent (IRC) to calling for “an independent, impartial, thorough, and effective investigation” in the International Criminal Court due to the “civilian character of the location”.
open image in galleryA US official told the outlet that US forces were targeting a telecommunications complex in the area. Navy jets dropped six bombs, all of which struck the site except for one which went wayward, the person familiar with the operation said, striking a home that a visual analysis by the Post shows was around 440 feet from the tower.
Iranian deputy health minister Ali Jafarian said the explosion had killed two children aged four and 16, along with two women.
Vice president JD Vance confirmed that the US was investigating the wedding strike after weapons experts had concluded it was likely caused by a direct hit from a US munition.
open image in galleryBut the Trump administration his yet to accept responsibility for the strike, which came amid a new escalation in the conflict as president Donald Trump faces growing domestic pressure to end the fighting ahead of November’s midterm elections.
“We’re investigating it because obviously we care. We want to know,” Vance said.
“If we do make mistakes, again, this is a big difference between us and Iran, when our military makes mistakes, they learn from them to try to get better from them,” he added.
Vance said that “sometimes things happen”, and added with “100 per cent confidence” that America “never targets civilians in combat”. The US military, while acknowledging reports of civilian casualties, also said it “never targets civilians”.
open image in galleryOn Thursday, mourners gathered near the village of Kuhestak in Sirik County, along the Strait of Hormuz coast.
Footage published by Iran’s Mehr news agency showed a pickup truck carrying a flag-draped coffin beneath palm fronds during the funeral. A reporter at the scene said it contained the body of a 4-year-old child killed in the strike.
Mourners threw flower petals into the air as a casket passed and military personnel stood at attention.