A senior US official told NBC that the American military is examining claims that it struck a wedding in southern Iran. The official did not confirm the incident, which has been reported by Iranian media. The Zioneer reports this is a developing story.
A senior US official told NBC Wednesday night that the American military is examining claims that it struck a wedding in southern Iran. The official did not confirm the incident, and the details remain unverified. The statement marks the highest-level US acknowledgment of the claims, though it stops short of validating them.
The claims first emerged Tuesday evening when Iranian sources reported that shrapnel from US strikes hit a wedding in the coastal city of Sirik, killing and wounding civilians. By Tuesday night, The Zioneer reported that at least five had been killed and ten wounded. Iranian authorities subsequently raised the toll to five killed and 68 wounded, while the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman claimed over 50 casualties and vowed a response. US Central Command (CENTCOM) denied the reports of civilian deaths at the wedding at 16:02 Wednesday (Jerusalem time), stating that the US military never intentionally targets civilians.
The current statement from a senior US official, while declining to confirm the incident, indicates that the military is now reviewing the claims directly. The reports of a wedding strike have emerged amid ongoing US military operations against IRGC targets in southern Iran, which have included strikes on air defense systems, radar arrays, and other infrastructure, as The Zioneer previously reported.
The casualty figures from the incident remain unverified by independent sources, and the US has not confirmed that a wedding was struck. The nature and extent of any civilian casualties remain open questions.
11 developments
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- StrongCENTCOM announces completion of new strike wave in Iran, targeting air defenses and naval assets
Source and signal
- Open-source intake