US investigates deadly Iran wedding strike after analysis suggests direct hit by American munition

Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the United States is investigating a strike that killed five people at an Iranian wedding earlier this week. This follows a review of video and images by weapons experts for Reuters, who concluded the blast likely resulted from a direct hit by a US munition rather than a ricochet.

The explosion struck a wedding celebration in a home near the village of Kuhestak, along Iran's Strait of Hormuz coast, on Tuesday, during a wave of US airstrikes the Pentagon said targeted military sites in retaliation for Iranian attacks on shipping. Iranian state television said a 22-year-old woman died of her injuries Thursday, bringing the death toll to five, with nearly 70 people reported wounded.

Four military weapons experts who reviewed footage for Reuters said the damage pattern was consistent with a direct strike rather than debris from a munition that missed another target. Three of the four said the weapon was likely American rather than an errant Iranian air-defense missile; one said the munition may have simply missed its intended target.

Vance told reporters the US is looking into the incident. "We're investigating it because obviously we care. We want to know," he said, adding that when the US military makes mistakes, "they learn from them to try to get better." The US military said it was aware of the reports but "never targets civilians."

At a funeral Thursday for four of the wedding victims, mourners in Kuhestak threw flower petals as a flag-draped coffin was carried past soldiers standing at attention. Iran's Mehr news agency identified one victim as 4-year-old Amir-Mohammad Karimi.

The strike came amid a sharp escalation in the Iran war, which has pushed oil prices to their highest levels since July, with Brent crude surpassing $96 a barrel Thursday. Iran reported 18 dead in the broader wave of US strikes and retaliated Wednesday with attacks on US bases in Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, followed by additional strikes early Thursday targeting a base in Kuwait, which its military said it intercepted.