Iran says US strike killed 5 at wedding; Tehran claims US losses in Jordan, Washington says none
Aftermath of a reported US strike on a wedding in southern Iran. Image courtesy: Screen grabs via X.com
New Delhi: Iranian authorities said a US strike hit a house hosting a wedding celebration in southern Iran, killing five people, including a four-year-old child, as Washington and Tehran exchanged attacks across the region. At least 50 people were wounded, according to the Iranian red crescent society, although other Iranian officials gave higher injury figures.
The strike was reported in Kuhestak in Sirik county, in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province near the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian red crescent society said five people were killed and 50 injured. The Sirik county governor later told Iranian state television that 63 people had been wounded, while the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), citing a provincial official, put the number of injured at 68.
Mehr News Agency reported that a four-year-old child was among those killed. Al Jazeera reported that footage published by the Iranian red crescent society showed a damaged building and debris at the site, while the organization also published pictures of several children receiving treatment at a hospital.
The United States had not separately confirmed that it struck the residence. Reuters reported that US officials had not immediately commented on the accounts of casualties at the wedding. The incident came during another wave of American strikes across Iran.
US Central Command (Centcom) said its forces targeted sites linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including air-defence systems, radar systems, maritime assets, mine-laying capabilities and communications facilities.
Centcom said the strikes followed recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and US service members deployed in the region.
Iranian media reported strikes and explosions at several other locations, including near Ahvaz, Jiroft airport, Bandar Abbas, Chabahar, Qeshm Island and Asaluyeh.
Iranian state media, citing the Khuzestan deputy governor, reported that seven people were killed and eight injured in US strikes on three locations in the province.
The latest fighting followed the first exchange of attacks between the United States and Iran since late July. Reuters reported that the US struck Iran’s Larak Island on Sunday, after which Tehran launched missiles towards bases housing American forces in Jordan.
Iran subsequently launched missile and drone attacks aimed at US-linked facilities across the region, including in Jordan and Iraq.
Iranian media also reported that a US base in Bahrain had been targeted. Bahrain said it intercepted and destroyed Iranian drones.
Iran claims heavy US losses in Jordan
The IRGC claimed that a ballistic missile attack on what it described as a US Marine Corps facility in Jordan had killed a “massive” of American personnel and damaged military equipment.
The IRGC identified what it said was the target as Camp Titin near Aqaba and said the attack was carried out in response to the latest US strikes on Iran. The Iranian claim has not been independently verified.
Two US officials told Reuters that no American casualties had been reported from the Iranian attack on facilities in Jordan based on the initial assessment. They said the assessment could change as attacks continued.
Jordan separately said no injuries or fatalities were reported from the missiles that entered its airspace. The Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army said 13 ballistic missiles originating from Iran entered Jordanian airspace. Its air-defence systems intercepted and destroyed 10, while three landed in remote areas away from populated centres.
The Jordanian military said teams had been sent to areas where missile debris fell and that no deaths or injuries had been reported. The IRGC separately claimed that missile and drone attacks on US facilities in Erbil in northern Iraq had killed American personnel and damaged military infrastructure.
Neither Iraq nor the United States had confirmed those claims. The United States president, Donald Trump, has warned Iran against further retaliation and threatened additional strikes if Tehran continues attacking American forces.
Iran, meanwhile, has said it will continue responding to US attacks and has warned countries assisting American military operations that they could face consequences.
