The US is investigating the possibility that a guided bomb aimed at Iran missed the wedding

The US appeared to drop six guided bombs targeting the Iranian communications tower, of which one deflected and hit a wedding 135 meters away.

The Washington Post on September 6 quoted a source with knowledge of the situation as saying that the Pentagon is investigating the "high possibility" that the explosion that destroyed the house holding a wedding reception in Kuhestak, southern Iran, on September 1 was caused by a US guided bomb that missed its target nearby.

An official said the target in the raid on Kuhestak city was a communications complex, including a small building and antenna tower, located near a residential area and suspected by the US military to be a location used by Iranian forces for combat operations.

The source said 6 bombs dropped from US navy fighters targeted the antenna tower, of which 5 hit the target and one seemed to fly off course. "An explosion tore off the roof of the house about 135 meters from the communication tower," this person admitted.

"The incident occurred even though the US military conducted a thorough target identification process, including efforts to minimize damage to civilians. The communication tower was the only target in the attack in Kuhestak, thereby eliminating the possibility that the house was intentionally attacked or mistaken for another target," the source said.

US officials also considered another possibility: an Iranian anti-aircraft missile falling on the house, but Washington Post sources and Western weapons experts all said that this scenario was very unlikely.

It is unclear why the bomb was deflected. Sources said the weapon used in the raid was an AGM-154 JSOW glide bomb, equipped with an inertial navigation system combined with GPS satellite positioning. The AGM-154C variant also has an integrated infrared detector to lock on the target during the descent.

The original AGM-154A glide bomb uses a BLU-97/B cluster warhead. The AGM-154C variant in the US Navy and Marine Corps is equipped with a BROACH warhead similar to the Storm Shadow cruise missile, including a primary explosive charge to penetrate reinforced concrete and ground, paving the way for a large explosive warhead to penetrate inside and cause maximum damage.

Trevor Ball, a former US Army ordnance disposal expert and currently an analyst at the Armament Research Organization (ARS), pointed out that the damage at the scene was consistent with the features of the most modern AGM-154C variant. This expert ruled out scenarios such as a house being hit by an anti-aircraft missile or a nearby weapons depot exploding, because the damage at the scene would be significantly different.

Mark Cancian, senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said the scenario is that the JSOW flies off target because the operator tries to aim at a small location on the antenna tower, increasing the risk of missing the target and flying to a nearby area.

Cancian noted that it is unlikely that jamming measures or simple forms of interference could deflect the flight path of the AGM-154C variant, because this bomb has many complementary guidance systems.

The US Department of Defense has not commented on the above information.

Iranian state media said the wedding raid in Kuhestak city left five people dead and more than 70 injured.

On September 3, the Pentagon announced that it was "aware" of the accusations from Iran, but affirmed that it "never targeted civilians."

US Vice President JD Vance later expressed "extreme skepticism" about Iran's information, but did not rule out the possibility that US forces made a mistake. "When mistakes are made, the US military will learn and try to do better," he said and announced that Washington was investigating the incident.