Iran Condemns Alleged US Strike on Wedding Ceremony, Says 68 Civilians Killed or Injured
Michael Olugbode in Abuja
The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran has condemned an alleged United States military strike on a wedding ceremony in southern Iran, saying the attack killed or injured 68 civilians and turned a family celebration into a scene of tragedy.
In a statement issued by its Press Department, the embassy said the incident occurred on September 1 at a wedding ceremony in Bandar Kuhestak, Sirik County, southern Iran.
It alleged that U.S. munitions directly struck the site where families had gathered for the private ceremony, resulting in deaths and injuries among civilians, including women and children.
The embassy described the victims as ordinary people who had no involvement in military decision-making and posed no threat to the United States.
It questioned the justification for what it described as a U.S. military attack on a residential location where a wedding was taking place, urging the international community to examine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The Iranian government also linked the reported incident to an earlier U.S. attack on Shajareh Tayyebeh School in Minab, which it said resulted in the deaths of a large number of Iranian children and other civilians.
According to the embassy, reports concerning the Minab attack had similarly pointed to the use of U.S. missiles.
“From the school in Minab to the wedding ceremony in Kuhestak,” the embassy said, “ordinary Iranian people are paying the price of U.S. military aggression.”
The statement also raised questions about the distinction between civilian and military targets, asking what military connection a school or a wedding ceremony could have and what threat children, women and families could pose to U.S. national security.
The embassy’s condemnation comes against the backdrop of heightened tensions and military confrontation between Iran and the United States, with both sides facing international scrutiny over attacks and their impact on civilians.
Invoking international law, the Iranian embassy maintained that Iran did not initiate what it described as the latest aggression and argued that the United States had attacked the territory of a sovereign state.
It cited Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which recognises the inherent right of states to individual or collective self-defence in the event of an armed attack.
The embassy argued that a country subjected to military attack should not subsequently have its defensive actions automatically characterised as a threat or destabilising conduct.
It nevertheless stressed that the protection of civilians remained a fundamental principle of international humanitarian law and should be applied without discrimination.
“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 not to allow civilian deaths in Iran to become normalised, warning that silence over attacks on civilians could encourage further tragedies.
It said the reported deaths and injuries at the wedding should not be treated merely as another headline in the cycle of war, but should prompt scrutiny of the circumstances and legality of attacks affecting civilian populations.
“A wedding ceremony should never become a battlefield,” the embassy declared, adding that civilians should not bear the cost of military ambitions.
The statement did not include a response from the U.S. government to the allegations.