Iran says US bombed a wedding party in Sirik, killing five

Officials say at least 63 others wounded in attack on city of Kuhestak, including women and children.

Iran has accused the United States of bombing a house during a wedding celebration in the southern county of Sirik, killing at least five people, including a child.

Esmaeil Baghaei, the spokesman for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the “brutal” attack hit a residence in the city of Kuhestak early on Wednesday.

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The state-owned Press TV reported that at least five people were killed.

Reza Shahidiyan, the governor of Sirik county, later told the IRIB state broadcaster that 63 others were wounded, and that 50 of the victims were women and children. All of the wounded have been taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Minab and were “in stable condition,” he said.

The semi-official Fars news agency meanwhile published an account from a child who survived the blast.

The child said he heard fighter jets before he arrived at the venue.

“When we arrived there, an explosion occurred. It was very intense. Bricks, stones, and cement hit me in the face and head, and many others were injured,” he said. “Everyone was just ordinary civilians.”

The reports came as the US military announced a new wave of strikes against “Iranian military targets”, saying it followed attempted attacks by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

The US military said it had hit Iranian air defence sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine-laying capabilities and communications sites.

The strikes follow a weekend exchange of fire and come amid a continuing standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blockaded since the start of the US and Israel’s war on the country on February 28

Baghaei, the Iranian spokesman, promised to respond to the US’s latest attacks.

“This cruelty cannot be separated from the chain of atrocities that preceded in it,” he said, pointing to attacks on the city of Minab and Lamerd on the first day of the war. In Minab, US forces struck an elementary school, killed more than 150 people, and in Lamerd, they hit a sport hall, killing at least 21 people.

In addition to Kuhestak, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported further explosions in the south of the country, including in Konarak, Bandar Abbas and on Qeshm Island.

Iran’s military said it retaliated by attacking US bases and assets in Jordan, Bahrain and Iraq. Kuwait also reported intercepting drones.