(Central News Agency, Cairo, Comprehensive Foreign Reports on the 2nd) According to human rights groups and Iranian media reports, a U.S. missile hit a house in southern Iran where dozens of people gathered to celebrate the wedding of a fisherman’s daughter. The incident killed four people and injured at least 68 others.
The Associated Press reported that on the 1st, a violent explosion occurred in Kuhestak, located on the coast of the Strait of Hormuz. Surveillance footage broadcast by Iran's semi-official Fars news agency showed a fireball lighting up the night sky. At that time, the United States was launching the latest round of bombing operations in southern Iran. The US military stated that the targets of these attacks were air defense facilities, radar systems and maritime assets.
Guhistaq is one of a string of small towns along the barren ridge of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that has become a major front in the U.S.-Iraq war. Guhistaq is about 30 kilometers away from the town of Minab. On February 28, the first day of the war between the United States and Israel, US missiles also hit a primary school in the town of Minab, killing more than 100 children.
Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said the U.S. military was investigating reports of an attack on the wedding. He declined to say whether the military had launched a formal investigation.
Guhistaq is located in a remote area of Iran, and not much information has been released so far. The following is what the Associated Press has learned.
A missile hits the wedding reception
Iranian state media reported that at least one missile hit the home of fisherman Ali Mallahi, who was celebrating his daughter's wedding.
"The missile completely blew off the roof of the house," Marashi said in an interview on state television, pointing to the holes in the house. Another missile hit a neighboring house they shared a yard with, he said. Like most residents of ancient Histaq, Marashi belongs to Iran's Baluch ethnic minority.
There is no video footage of the moment of impact. However, videos broadcast by Iranian media showed that the house was blasted into a crater, and the walls and roof of the building were severely damaged. There was a smashed car nearby, and debris including the shoes of wedding guests were scattered around.
Iranian official media: Missile attack kills 4 and injures 68
The Iranian News Agency (IRNA) and state television reported that the dead included two women and two children aged 4 and 16, and at least 68 others were injured. Shortly after the attack, Ahmad Nafisi, deputy governor of Hormozgan province, told Iranian state television that five people were killed. Iranian officials have yet to explain the change in numbers.
At the Minab hospital where the injured were admitted, Iranian media photographed at least two girls and a woman wrapped in bandages. One of the children still looked shaken.
At the hospital, a man with his head and arms bandaged said he heard fighter jets circling overhead on his way to a wedding. When he arrived at the wedding reception, there was an explosion.
"Bricks kept falling, hitting everyone on the head. Many children and women were seriously injured at the scene, really many people," he said in a video released by the Iranian Red Crescent, which did not disclose the identity of the man.
Nearby ports were also attacked
Iranian state media reported that a communications tower at the ancient Shitak port was also hit in this round of air strikes, about 100 meters away from Marashi’s home.
Moein Arjomand, director of the Balochistan Human Rights Documentation Network, quoted eyewitness accounts as saying that at least two missiles hit the communication tower and another missile hit a pier in the port.
The Baloch Human Rights Documentation Network, which is in contact with the Baloch community in Iran, pointed out that the 16-year-old died when he was hit by a missile fragment while riding a motorcycle near a communication tower, and was not killed at a wedding as reported by Iranian media.
Separately, Iran stated that in the latest wave of attacks by the US military, four members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and 10 members of the Basij, a volunteer militia affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard, were killed. State media reported that a total of 108 people were injured.
Experts: Debris points to U.S. weapons
A weapons expert told The Associated Press that images of fragments of ammunition that Iranian media said were used in the attack on Marahi's home showed it was a "U.S.-made air-drop-guided weapon."
