United States Vice President JD Vance has expressed scepticism about reports of a deadly US attack on a wedding party in the Iranian town of Kuhestak on Tuesday this week, saying he does not trust Iran’s narrative. However, he added: “Sometimes, things happen,” as he spoke about the claims. Speaking on Thursday at a White House news briefing, two days after the attack, Vance said he had no new information about the incident, but maintained that the US “never targets civilians in combat” and would investigate the incident.
Analysts say his comments reflect a long history of the US government minimising or disputing reports of civilian harm in military operations. Here’s what we know about the strike on a wedding in Iran and how Vance’s response fits into a pattern of claims in US military history. A missile attack hit a wedding celebration in Iran’s southern town of Kuhestak, Hormozgan, on Tuesday night, killing four people – two women and two children – and injuring 67, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society.
On Wednesday, the Hormozgan governor’s office identified the four killed as four-year-old Amir Ali Karimi, 16-year-old Mohammad Malahi, 43-year-old Kolsoum Malahi and 43-year-old Zarkhatoun Taheri. The Iranian Red Crescent said the incident was thoroughly documented and released several images from the scene as well as of the children who were injured. It wrote to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, seeking legal action against the perpetrators of the “grave” attack.
Footage showed that several projectiles had struck a telecommunications tower near the city’s shoreline and destroyed it, with locals saying they thought drones had been used. Based on fragments of shrapnel found in Kuhestak, defence experts said it might be a variant of the AGM-84K SLAM-ER, which manufacturer Boeing describes as an advanced precision-guided, air-launched cruise missile with “surgical strike capability”. The news agency cited weapons experts who reviewed images and video and said the damage likely resulted from a direct hit by a US munition.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the strikes in Kuhestak completed a “catalogue of atrocities against the nation of Iran” by the US. The US says it has launched an investigation. On Tuesday, Tim Hawkins, spokesperson for US Central Command (CENTCOM), said the US was aware of reports of civilian casualties that “originated from Iranian state media” and was “looking into them”.
Vance later said he was “extremely sceptical” of the reports about the wedding strike. He said the “Iranian state media has not been a very good scribe” about the ongoing conflict, despite the attack being documented by the Iranian Red Crescent Society. We never have done that.” He added: “Unfortunately, obviously, sometimes things happen.” This is not the first time the US government has cast doubt on reports of alleged civilian harm during war, including in the current conflict with Iran.
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