Iran Condemns Alleged US Strike on Wedding Ceremony, Says 68 Civilians Killed or Injured

Iran’s embassy says a family wedding in southern Iran was turned into a scene of tragedy after alleged US munitions struck the ceremony. The embassy said 68 civilians were killed or injured in the September 1 incident in Bandar Kuhestak, in Sirik County.

According to the statement, families had gathered for a private celebration when the site was hit. Women and children were among the casualties, the embassy said. It described the victims as ordinary people who had taken no part in military decision-making and posed no threat to the United States.

The embassy also tied the reported strike to an earlier US attack on Shajareh Tayyebeh School in Minab, which it said killed a large number of Iranian children and other civilians. Reports about that incident had likewise pointed to the use of US missiles, according to the statement.

“

From the school in Minab to the wedding ceremony in Kuhestak, ordinary Iranian people are paying the price of U.S. military aggression.

“From the school in Minab to the wedding ceremony in Kuhestak, ordinary Iranian people are paying the price of U.S. military aggression,” the embassy said. It asked what military connection a school or wedding could have, and what threat children, women and families could pose to US national security.

The statement came amid heightened military tensions between Iran and the United States. Iran’s embassy said Iran did not initiate what it called the latest aggression and argued that the United States had attacked the territory of a sovereign state. Citing Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, it said states retain an inherent right to individual or collective self-defence after an armed attack. It also stressed that civilian protection remains a fundamental principle of international humanitarian law.

“The life of an Iranian child, an Iranian woman, or an ordinary Iranian citizen is no less valuable than the life of any other human being,” the statement said. The embassy urged the international community to examine the circumstances surrounding the reported strike.

“

The life of an Iranian child, an Iranian woman, or an ordinary Iranian citizen is no less valuable than the life of any other human being.