Iran accuses US of war crime after strike hits wedding in Kuhestak

Iran has accused the US of a war crime after officials said a missile strike killed four people including two children at a wedding celebration.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) said shrapnel from a missile hit a family wedding ceremony at a home in southern Iran, causing the deaths. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei called the incident a "war crime".

A US Central Command (Centcom) spokesperson said it "never targets civilians", adding that it was aware of the reports.

Iranian authorities said another 14 people were killed elsewhere. In response, Iran launched missiles and drones at US targets in Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq and Bahrain.

Most of the drones and missiles Iran launched at neighbouring countries were reportedly intercepted. Kuwait said a drone started a fire in a residential complex but caused no casualties.

Centcom said strikes on Iran followed "recent attempted attacks" by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) against American forces and commercial shipping in the crucial Strait of Hormuz waterway, through which around 20% of global oil and gas shipments usually pass.

The Iranian military's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters warned that operations against American forces in the region would continue until the US "regrets" its crimes.

US President Donald Trump described Tuesday's strikes on Iran as "large and powerful".

Centcom said the targets included air defence sites, radar systems and maritime assets.

Iranian media reported explosions across the southern provinces of Hormozgan, Sistan-Baluchestan, Kerman and Khuzestan.

The IRCS said at least four people were killed and 67 others were injured when shrapnel from a missile hit a family wedding ceremony at a home in the coastal town of Kuhestak, in Sirik.

Citing the Hormozgan Governorate, Iranian media named the dead as Zarkhatoon Taheri, 50; Kolsum Mallahi Nazhdnia, 43; Mohammad Mallahi, 16; and Amirali Karimi, four.

Media outlets initially quoted the IRCS as saying that five people were killed.

"Unfortunately, this is a residential building. And unfortunately, this happened during my daughter's wedding ceremony," Ali Mallahi, father of the bride and owner of the building, said in a video broadcast by state TV.

"It is a very saddening incident... Thank God the casualties were not higher."

Iran's parliamentary speaker and top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said it was another attack showing the US was "Satan".

BBC Verify confirmed that a video and two images taken on Tuesday near Kuhestak's coast showed the destruction of a telecommunications tower, and that other videos from Tuesday and Wednesday showed severely damaged houses about 130m (427ft) north of the tower.

BBC Persian Forensics, by examining published videos and CCTV footage, found the telecommunications tower was about 112m (367 ft) from the house where the wedding was being held.

A weapons expert also told BBC Verify that footage purportedly from the scene appeared to show remnants of an AGM-84 Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM_ER) - a type of cruise missile known to be used by the US.

Centcom spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins told the BBC it was aware of reports from Iranian state media of the attack in Sirik.

He added: "The US military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC."

Iranian state media reported that another seven people were killed in three separate US strikes around Ahvaz and Aqajari, in Khuzestan.

The IRGC meanwhile said that four members of its aerospace force, which oversees Iran's ballistic missiles, were killed by US attacks in Kermanshah, and that three members of the paramilitary Basij Resistance Force were killed on Lavan island, in the Gulf.

After about a month-long pause, the US resumed attacks on Iran on Sunday, when it announced it had struck two rocket launchers to prevent them being used to lay naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran retaliated by firing missiles at air bases in Jordan and a drone at the UAE.

The US and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran on 28 February, killing the country's supreme leader and other top officials at the start of a massive air campaign. Iran responded by attacking Israel, US bases and allied states in the Gulf with missiles and drones, and effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping.

In June, the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that called for an end to hostilities on all fronts and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. It also gave them two months to reach a final deal that covers Iran's nuclear programme, US sanctions and a permanent truce.

However, the MoU collapsed within weeks, leading to a resumption of hostilities.

Since then, both US and Iranian forces have fired on commercial shipping in the region, with Iran targeting vessels it says have sought to transit the Strait of Hormuz without its permission and the US enforcing a naval blockade of Iranian ports.

Last week, the US had indicated that it was switching to economic sanctions on Iran, rather than military options, to try to win concessions and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian officials and state media have largely dismissed the campaign as a continuation of previous US economic measures.

Additional reporting by BBC Persian