Deadly strike on Iranian wedding was likely a direct hit by a US munition, analysis shows

An explosion tore through a wedding celebration in Kuhestak, southern Iran, on Tuesday, killing four people and injuring at least 68 others.

Weapons experts who reviewed images and video verified by Reuters concluded the blast likely resulted from a direct hit by a US munition, not a ricochet.

Was the Iranian wedding strike caused by a US munition?

Four weapons experts who reviewed photos and video verified by Reuters said the damage at the Kuhestak wedding was consistent with a direct hit, not damage from a munition bouncing off another target. Three said the weapon was likely American, not a stray Iranian air defense missile.

The incident has reignited concerns about civilian casualties in the US war with Iran. It marks the most dramatic case since a missile struck an Iranian primary school in February, killing scores of children and teachers inside.

US Central Command said its forces carried out multiple strikes across southern Iran on September 1, targeting Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps air defense sites, radar systems and communications facilities. The strikes came in retaliation for earlier Iranian attacks on US military assets around the Gulf.

US Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday that the United States was investigating the strike. "We're investigating it because obviously we care. We want to know," he said during a White House press briefing. The US military said it was aware of reports and was looking into them. Iran's delegation to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

What happened at the Kuhestak wedding?

Dozens of residents had gathered in a home in Kuhestak for a wedding ceremony on the night of the attack, according to eyewitnesses. A munition likely struck the building's roof during the party, according to photos and video verified by Reuters and reviewed by experts.

Reuters shared the footage with four military weapons experts. They said the damage was consistent with a direct hit rather than secondary damage from a munition ricocheting off a separate target. "Given the number of bombs that have been dropped, this does occur from time to time even with the most sophisticated guidance systems," said Gareth Collett, a retired British Army brigadier who specialized in counterterrorist bomb disposal and holds a doctorate in explosives engineering.

Bloody shoes lay amid the rubble after the strike, and wedding decorations common in that part of Iran were strewn about, the images show. One eyewitness sent a voice note to Reuters moments after the strike. "Kuhestak is destroyed. Four, five, ten houses were destroyed. Many people are under the rubble. God help us," they said.

Was the wedding hit near a US target?

Local residents spoke on condition of anonymity. Two US officials, also speaking anonymously, said the US military had carried out strikes near Kuhestak on September 1, specifically targeting the town's telecommunications tower.

That tower stands roughly 135 meters from the site of the wedding celebration, according to satellite imagery. It was hit at approximately 9:30pm local time, according to Iranian media.

One US official said the government was examining several scenarios for the casualties at the wedding. These included a direct US strike, a ricochet from an Iranian air defense missile, or an errant interceptor. The death toll of four, with 68 injured, came from the Balochestan Human Rights Documentation Network and Haalvsh, groups that monitor and document human rights abuses.

Who were the victims of the Kuhestak wedding strike?

Three of the people killed were wedding guests: Kolsoom Mollahi Najhandania, 43; Zarkhatoon Taheri, 50; and four-year-old Amir Mohammad Karimi, according to the rights groups. The fourth victim, 16-year-old Mohammad Mallahi, was killed while riding his motorcycle near the communications tower. The names have also been confirmed in Iranian media.

The incident comes more than six months after a missile destroyed a primary school in Minab on February 28, hours after the start of the US and Israeli attacks on Iran that launched the current conflict. That strike killed more than 175 children and teachers, according to Iranian officials.

The Pentagon has not publicly released the findings of its investigation into the Minab strike, the US military's biggest civilian casualty incident in decades. Reuters first reported on March 5 that an initial, internal US military investigation showed US forces were likely responsible for that strike.

How have residents and Iranian authorities responded?

Posts about the attack began circulating on social media at approximately 9:30pm local time on September 1. Human rights groups in touch with local residents said authorities pressured eyewitnesses afterward not to discuss the attack with foreign media. Reuters spoke to residents through intermediaries.

"At the wedding, there were a lot of people. Many [injured] people have been taken away, many more [injured people] are being taken right now," one local resident said in a voice message shortly after the wedding was hit. Iranian state media, citing telecommunications authorities in Hormozgan, said the tower was a civilian structure that delivers mobile, telephone and internet services to people in the surrounding Sirik County.

During the six-month war, the US military has repeatedly struck Iranian radar and communications facilities near the Strait of Hormuz, aiming to stop the Iranian military from threatening commercial ships and oil tankers transiting the waterway. Iran has shown it can throttle energy shipments through the strait, driving up global energy costs and creating a political challenge for the Trump administration ahead of the US midterm elections.

What do weapons experts say caused the blast?

Trevor Ball, a former US Army explosive ordnance disposal technician and current weapons technical analyst for Armament Research Services, was among the experts who reviewed the photos and video at Reuters' request. "The damage seen appears to be from a munition which detonated on contact with the roof, or just above the roof," he said, describing it as apparently a direct hit. He added that the visible blast damage could not have resulted from fragments from the nearby strike on the communications tower. He said it was likely a US weapon.

Collett agreed with Ball's analysis. "The weight of evidence leans towards a US 500 lb air-dropped munition as opposed to an Iranian air defense missile," he said. Sebastian Schutte, a research professor at the Peace Research Institute in Oslo, also reviewed the visual material and agreed the hole in the roof was not the result of a ricochet off the telecommunications tower.

All three experts said it was unlikely that a misfired Iranian missile had destroyed the home. Schutte said the angle of impact was inconsistent with an air defense missile, and Collett said there was no evidence of the fragmentation typically present with an air defence warhead. Ball identified some weapons fragments shown on Iranian media as belonging to a joint standoff weapon, a type of glide bomb commonly used by the US military. Reuters could not independently verify that the fragments came from the attack on the house in Kuhestak.

How has the community reacted since the strike?

Residents of Kuhestak held a funeral on Thursday for those killed. Mourners filled the procession, carrying a casket and holding posters above their heads as a funeral prayer played in the background.

Women wearing black full-body cloaks with bright red traditional face masks distinctive to the southern coastal region of Iran threw flowers on four-year-old Amir Mohammad Karimi's small casket as it passed. "The situation in Sirik is sad and mournful, and people are still in shock," one eyewitness said.