An explosion that tore through a wedding celebration in southern Iran this week, killing four people and injuring at least 68 others, was likely the result of a direct hit by a U.S. munition rather than a ricochet from a nearby strike, according to an analysis of weapons experts who reviewed video and images verified by Reuters. The incident, which struck a home in the small town of Kuhestak, has renewed scrutiny of civilian casualties in the six-month-old war between the United States and Iran, marking the most significant such case since a missile destroyed an Iranian primary school in February.
Strikes on Iran’s South
U.S. Central Command announced that its forces had 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 were described as retaliation for earlier Iranian attacks on U.S. military assets in the Gulf region. Among the targets was a telecommunications tower in Kuhestak, struck at approximately 9:30 p.m. local time, according to Iranian media. Two U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the U.S. military had conducted strikes in the area specifically aimed at that tower, which stood roughly 135 meters from the site of the wedding celebration, according to satellite imagery.
A Celebration Interrupted
Dozens of residents had gathered in a home in Kuhestak that evening for a wedding ceremony, according to eyewitnesses. During the celebration, a munition struck the building’s roof, according to photos and video reviewed by experts. Footage taken after the strike shows debris scattered throughout the home, along with dress sandals and colorful wedding decorations consistent with local custom. One local resident sent a voice message to Reuters in the immediate aftermath, saying: “Kuhestak is destroyed. Four, five, ten houses were destroyed. Many people are under the rubble. God help us.”
Experts Rule Out Ricochet Theory
Reuters shared the video and images with four military weapons experts, all of whom said the damage pattern was consistent with a direct hit rather than secondary damage from a munition that had ricocheted off another target. Three of the four experts said the munition was likely American in origin rather than an errant Iranian air defense missile. Trevor Ball, a former U.S. Army explosive ordnance disposal technician and current weapons technical analyst for Armament Research Services, said the damage “appears to be from a munition which detonated on contact with the roof, or just above the roof.” He added that the visible blast damage could not have resulted from fragments traveling from the nearby strike on the communications tower.
A Likely 500-Pound Munition
Gareth Collett, a retired British Army brigadier who specialized in counterterrorism bomb disposal and holds a doctorate in explosives engineering, agreed with Ball’s assessment. “The weight of evidence leans towards a U.S. 500 lb air-dropped munition as opposed to an Iranian air defence missile,” Collett said. He noted, however, that such errors do occur given the scale of the air campaign, stating: “Given the number of bombs that have been dropped, this does occur from time to time even with the most sophisticated guidance systems.” Sebastian Schutte, a research professor at the Peace Research Institute in Oslo, also reviewed the material and concluded that the hole in the roof was not consistent with a ricochet off the communications tower.
Angle of Impact Contradicts Stray Missile Theory
The three experts who pointed to a U.S. weapon said it was unlikely that a misfired Iranian air defense missile had caused the destruction. Schutte said the angle of impact was inconsistent with an air defense missile striking the home, while Collett said there was no evidence of the type of fragmentation pattern that would typically accompany an air defense warhead detonation. Weapons fragments shown on Iranian media were reviewed by Ball, who identified some of the remnants as belonging to a joint standoff weapon, a type of U.S. glide bomb. Reuters said it could not independently verify that those fragments came from the strike on the Kuhestak home. Separately, other weapons analysts cited by international outlets pointed to the possibility that a SLAM-ER cruise missile, manufactured by Boeing, may have been involved in the broader barrage that night. The company describes the SLAM-ER as among the most accurate weapons in its class.
The Victims
The casualty count of four deaths and 68 injuries came from the Balochestan Human Rights Documentation Network and Haalvsh, two groups that monitor and document human rights conditions in Iran. Three of those killed were wedding guests: Kolsoom Mollahi Najhandania, 43; Zarkhatoon Taheri, 50; and four-year-old Amir Mohammad Karimi. The fourth victim, 16-year-old Mohammad Mallahi, was killed while riding his motorcycle near the communications tower. The Hormozgan governor’s office separately identified the same four victims on Wednesday, confirming their names and ages. The Iranian Red Crescent Society said the dead included two women and two children, ages four and 16, and warned the death toll could rise further given the critical condition of some of the wounded.
Eyewitness Accounts Amid Pressure
Human rights groups in contact with local residents said that in the aftermath of the strike, local authorities pressured eyewitnesses not to speak with foreign media. Reuters said it communicated with residents through intermediaries. One local resident described the scene in a voice message sent shortly after the wedding was struck: “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.” Moin Arjmand, director of the Balochistan Human Rights Documentation Network, told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda that the communications tower fell vertically to the ground after being hit, blocking the street and disrupting internet and telecommunications service in the area.
Washington’s Response
On Thursday, U.S. President JD Vance said the United States was investigating the strike. “We’re investigating it because obviously we care. We want to know,” Vance told reporters during a White House press briefing. The U.S. military said it was aware of the reports and was reviewing them. A CENTCOM spokesperson, Tim Hawkins, said the reports of civilian casualties originated from Iranian state media and maintained that the U.S. military does not target civilians. One U.S. official said the government was examining multiple scenarios for the casualties, including whether they resulted from a direct U.S. strike, a ricochet from an Iranian air defense missile, or an errant Iranian interceptor.
Iran’s Response and ICC Appeal
Iranian officials condemned the strike in strong terms. Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesman for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, described the attack on the Kuhestak residence as “brutal” and characterized it as a war crime. The Iranian Red Crescent Society sent a letter to the International Criminal Court’s Office of the Prosecutor on Wednesday requesting an “independent, impartial, thorough, and effective investigation,” citing the civilian character of the location. Baghaei rejected CENTCOM’s characterization of the incident, referencing past U.S. strikes on civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan and writing on social media that the reality in Sirik “is so horrifying that even American propaganda has never dared make the claim” CENTCOM was making. Iranian state media, citing telecommunications authorities in Hormozgan province, said the destroyed tower was a civilian structure providing mobile, telephone and internet service to the surrounding Sirik County.
Part of a Wider Escalation
The wedding strike did not occur in isolation. Iranian officials said seven additional people were killed in U.S. strikes across three locations in Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province on September 1, and Iran responded the following day by firing missiles at U.S. targets in Jordan, Iraq and Kuwait. That exchange marked the deadliest and most intense escalation since July, when a memorandum of understanding signed a month earlier aimed at ending the war broke down. During the six-month conflict, the U.S. military has repeatedly struck Iranian radar and communications installations near the Strait of Hormuz in an effort to stop Iran from threatening commercial shipping and oil tankers transiting the waterway. Iran has demonstrated its ability to constrict energy shipments through the strait, driving up global energy costs and creating a political challenge for the Trump administration ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.
Echoes of the Minab School Strike
The Kuhestak incident follows the deadliest civilian casualty event of the war to date. On February 28, hours after the U.S. and Israel launched the current conflict, a missile destroyed a primary school in Minab, killing more than 175 children and teachers according to Iranian officials. The Pentagon has not publicly released the findings of its investigation into that strike, though Reuters first reported on March 5 that an initial internal U.S. military investigation indicated American forces were likely responsible.
Funeral in Sirik
On Thursday, residents of Kuhestak held a funeral for those killed in the strike. Mourners filled a procession through the town of Sirik, carrying a casket and holding posters aloft as a funeral prayer played in the background. Women wearing traditional black full-body cloaks with the bright red facemasks distinctive to Iran’s southern coastal region threw flowers on the small casket carrying four-year-old Amir Mohammad Karimi as it passed. “The situation in Sirik is sad and mournful, and people are still in shock,” one eyewitness said.