Four people died and at least 68 were hurt when an explosion tore through a wedding party in the southern Iranian town of Kuhestak on Tuesday. A review of photos and video by four independent weapons experts, commissioned by Reuters, concluded the blast likely came from a direct hit by a US munition rather than debris from a separate strike nearby.
The finding adds a new layer to a war that has already drawn scrutiny over civilian deaths. It is the most serious case since a missile hit an Iranian primary school in February, killing scores of children and teachers.
A Retaliatory Strike Turns Deadly
US Central Command said its forces struck multiple targets across southern Iran on September 1, hitting Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps air defense sites, radar installations and communications facilities. The Pentagon framed the operation as a response to Iranian attacks on US military assets in the Gulf.
Dozens of guests had gathered at a home in Kuhestak that night for a wedding. Photos and video verified by Reuters show a munition struck the building’s roof during the celebration.
Vice President JD Vance told reporters Thursday that the US is looking into the incident. “We’re investigating it because obviously we care. We want to know,” he said at a White House briefing. The Pentagon said it was aware of the reports and reviewing them. Iran’s UN delegation did not respond to a request for comment.
What the Experts Saw
Reuters sent the visual material to four weapons specialists. All four said the damage pattern matched a direct hit rather than a ricochet off a separate target. Three concluded the weapon was almost certainly American, not an Iranian air defense missile that had missed its mark.
Trevor Ball, a former US Army explosive ordnance disposal technician now working as a weapons analyst at Armament Research Services, examined the images closely. “The damage seen appears to be from a munition which detonated on contact with the roof, or just above the roof,” he said. He added that “the visible blast damage could not result from fragments from the nearby strike on the communications tower striking the area.”
Gareth Collett, a retired British Army brigadier with a doctorate in explosives engineering, agreed. “The weight of evidence leans towards a U.S. 500 lb air-dropped munition as opposed to an Iranian air defence missile,” he said. Collett also noted the strike could have simply gone astray. “Given the number of bombs that have been dropped, this does occur from time to time even with the most sophisticated guidance systems,” he said.
Sebastian Schutte, a research professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, reviewed the same material and reached a similar conclusion. He said the angle of impact did not match what an air defense missile would produce. Collett added that there was no sign of the fragmentation pattern typical of an air defense warhead.
Weapons fragments shown on Iranian media included pieces Ball identified as belonging to a joint standoff weapon, a glide bomb used by the US military. Reuters could not independently confirm those fragments came from the house in Kuhestak.
A Tower 135 Meters Away
Two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the military had targeted Kuhestak’s telecommunications tower on September 1. Satellite imagery places that tower roughly 135 meters from the wedding site. Iranian media reported the tower was hit at approximately 9:30 p.m. local time.
One of the officials said the government is still weighing multiple explanations for the casualties, including a direct US strike, a ricochet from an Iranian air defense missile, or an errant interceptor.
Iranian state media, citing telecommunications authorities in Hormozgan province, described the tower as a civilian structure that carries mobile, phone and internet service for Sirik County. Photographs show the structure toppled, its metal frame twisted on the ground.
The US has repeatedly hit Iranian radar and communications sites near the Strait of Hormuz during the six-month war, aiming to stop Iran from threatening tankers and commercial ships passing through the waterway. Iran has demonstrated it can slow energy shipments through the strait, pushing up global energy prices and creating a political problem for the Trump administration ahead of the midterm elections.
Voices From the Rubble
An eyewitness sent Reuters a voice note moments after the blast. “Kuhestak is destroyed. Four, five, ten houses were destroyed. Many people are under the rubble. God help us,” the person said. Another resident described the chaos in a separate message: “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.” Both spoke on condition of anonymity.
Human rights monitors in contact with local residents said authorities pressured eyewitnesses afterward not to speak with foreign journalists. Reuters reached residents through intermediaries.
The casualty count, four dead and at least 68 injured, came from the Balochestan Human Rights Documentation Network and Haalvsh, groups that track and document rights abuses in the region. Three of those killed were wedding guests: Kolsoom Mollahi Najhandania, 43; Zarkhatoon Taheri, 50; and four-year-old Amir Mohammad Karimi. A fourth victim, 16-year-old Mohammad Mallahi, died while riding his motorcycle near the communications tower. Iranian media confirmed all four names.
Echoes of February
The Kuhestak strike lands more than six months after a missile destroyed a primary school in Minab on February 28, hours after US and Israeli attacks on Iran opened the current conflict. Iranian officials said the strike killed more than 175 children and teachers, making it the deadliest civilian casualty incident of the war for the US military.
The Pentagon has never publicly released its findings on the Minab strike. Reuters first reported on March 5 that an internal US military investigation had concluded American forces were likely responsible.
A Funeral in Sirik
On Thursday, residents of Kuhestak buried the dead. Mourners followed a casket through the streets as a funeral prayer played, holding posters overhead. Women wearing the black cloaks and bright red facemasks traditional to Iran’s southern coast threw flowers onto 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.
Reuters has not been able to independently confirm which country’s weapon caused the deaths at the wedding, and the US investigation Vance referenced Thursday has not produced public findings.
