US Vice President JD Vance Calls Iran Wedding Strike ‘Accident’, Says ‘Sometimes Things Happen

Five dead including 4-year-old child, nearly 70 wounded in southern Iran airstrike as Tehran files UN complaint calling it ‘war crime’
Washington/Tehran, September 5, 2026 — US Vice President JD Vance has defended the American military after an airstrike hit a wedding ceremony in the coastal town of Kuhestak in southern Iran, killing at least five people and wounding nearly 70, calling the civilian casualties an unfortunate accident.�
Speaking at a White House press briefing on Thursday, Vance said the United States was investigating the incident but expressed skepticism about Iranian reports. “What I can say with 100% confidence is that, unlike the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the US never targets civilians in combat. We never will do that. We never have done that, and unfortunately, obviously, sometimes things happen,” he told reporters.�
Iranian state television reported that five people were killed in the September 1 strike, including four-year-old Amir-Mohammad Karimi, 16-year-old Mohammad Mallahi, 43-year-old Kolsum Mallahi Nezhadnia, and 50-year-old Zarkhatoun Taheri.  A 22-year-old woman, Asieh Molaeinezhad, died in hospital two days later, bringing the death toll to five.  At least 68 others were wounded, many of them women and children.�
The attack occurred around 9:30 PM local time (11:30 PM IST) on September 1 when a US munition struck a residential home where a wedding celebration was underway.  Iranian state broadcaster Press TV said the strike directly hit the house hosting the ceremony.�
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ismail Baghaei condemned the strike as a “war crime” and part of a broader pattern of US attacks on civilians during the ongoing conflict.  Tehran has filed a formal complaint with the United Nations, accusing Washington of state terrorism.
“The catalog of American atrocities against Iran is now complete,” Baghaei said, linking the wedding strike to previous incidents including the February 28 attack on the Shajarah Tayyiba school in Minab that killed 168 people, including 120 students and 26 teachers, according to Iranian officials.�
Vance confirmed that the Pentagon 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.”�
However, a Reuters analysis of images and video from the scene concluded that the explosion likely resulted from a direct hit by a US munition rather than shrapnel from a strike on a nearby communications tower, as US officials had initially suggested.�