The small Iranian town of Kuhestak is reeling after a barrage of strikes hit a house where dozens of women were gathered to celebrate a wedding KUHESTAK, Iran -- Women with their children were gathered in the house and yard, waiting for the bride and groom to arrive to kick off a wedding celebration in this small town in southern Iran. Then an explosion turned the scene to carnage. The town of Kuhestak is still reeling from a barrage of strikes that killed five people during an American bombardment of southern Iran on Tuesday evening.
Lampposts at the entrance to the town displayed large posters of four of the dead — a 4-year-old boy, a 16-year-old and two women. Another woman, one of more than 60 people wounded in the blasts, died Thursday at a hospital. On Friday, an team made a rare visit to the town on the coast overlooking the Strait of Hormuz.
Within a densely built neighborhood of houses and unpaved alleys stood the compound of the Mallahi family, which was struck as relatives celebrated their daughter’s wedding. A U.S. weapons expert who reviewed images from the scene said the evidence suggests the strikes were carried out with American guided bombs. Ali Mallahi, a cousin of the bride, pointed to a gaping hole in the roof of a room that took a direct hit in one of the compound's four houses.
Big cracks ran through walls decorated with floral designs. Windows were shattered, and twisted sections of roofing and metal framework lay across the courtyard, among carpets and household appliances that the family had pulled out of other damaged rooms. Video of the immediate aftermath aired in Iranian media showed colorful decorations and palm fronds strewn across the ground.
Weddings in the area are traditionally segregated by gender, and on Tuesday evening, roughly 150 women were gathered in the house, while the men held a separate celebration in another building about 50 meters (yards) away, Mallahi said. A strike hit the room where the women were due to be served dinner, but at the time, celebrations were only just getting started, Mallahi said. The bride and groom had not yet arrived.
The father of the bride, his uncle, is also named Ali Mallahi. Sasan Zarei, a neighbor, said she rushed to the Mallahis’ home and helped people out of the rubble. The scenes were very heartbreaking.” U.S.
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