A video released by U.S. Central Command on Tuesday, which showed a U.S. fighter jet taking off, displayed a JSOW bomb apparently mounted beneath one of its wings, accompanying a statement confirming strikes on targets in Iran.
The strike on Kuhestak marks the fourth incident reported by The Times in which non‑military structures were hit, resulting in civilian casualties. On Feb. 28, the opening day of the U.S.-Israeli conflict in Iran, a U.S. Tomahawk missile struck an elementary school in Minab, killing more than 150 people, the majority of them children, according to Iranian officials.
Hours afterward, the United States launched several PrSM missiles at a residential area near Lamerd, Iran, resulting in 21 deaths, Iranian officials reported. In July, a 2,000‑pound bomb was used to target a home on Qeshm Island, killing three civilians, they added.
Among the victims of the Kuhestak strike was Amir‑Mohammad Karimi, a lively 6‑year‑old about to begin kindergarten, according to an interview his mother gave to the Red Crescent, which was posted on the organization’s official page.
His mother, whose name was not released by the Red Crescent, said her son was so eager to attend the wedding that he left with his 14‑year‑old sister, Kiana, ahead of her. Upon hearing the explosions, she rushed into the street to locate the children, only to find them buried under dust and shrapnel.
A local photographer, who gave his name only as Kian, told interviewers he was at his home roughly 500 yards from the Malahi residence when he heard an unusual sound. “It was almost like a whistle, a whistle coming from the sea,” he described. When the bomb detonated, he said, “the whole area heard the blast.”
Power and mobile communications were knocked out. The atmosphere was heavy with the scent of gunpowder. As he moved toward the Malahi house, Kian recounted hearing screams and wailing; he requested anonymity out of concern for possible government retaliation.
He noted that residents were seen carrying infants and young children, attempting to transport them to hospital using pickup trucks and any available vehicles.
Kian observed that the bomb hit the portion of the celebration designated for women, explaining why the majority of the injured were women and children.
Later that evening, Kian reported, he was with the father and brother of Mohammad Malahi, a 16‑year‑old victim, as they struggled to identify his remains. The teen’s injuries were so severe that the family relied on the mobile phone recovered from his body to confirm his identity.
The semi‑official Fars News Agency, linked to the Revolutionary Guards, identified two additional victims: Kolsoum Malahi Najandnia, 43, and Zarkhatoun Taheri, 50.
According to a wedding guest named Motahareh, both the bride and groom survived the strike.
The wounded from the Kuhestak wedding were transferred to Hazrat Abolfazl Hospital in Minab, the same facility that had treated casualties from the strike on Shajareh Tayebeh primary school. On the conflict’s first day, U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles destroyed the school, resulting in 168 deaths, most of them pupils, according to Iranian officials.
Ahmad Nafisi, the deputy governor of Hormozgan Province, which encompasses both Minab and Kuhestak, told local media that the United States “has once again committed a war crime in the province of Hormozgan.”
Footage filmed amid a frantic crowd at the hospital entrance depicted medical staff on standby with stretchers as wedding attendees arrived for care. One clip showed adults bringing in a weeping boy and a girl with blood flowing from her forehead.