US Probes Iran Wedding Strike; Experts Say Direct US Munition Hit — SkimNews
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- JD Vance said the U.S. is investigating this week's strike on an Iranian wedding, telling reporters Thursday: "We're investigating it because obviously we care. We want to know."
- Four weapons experts who reviewed Reuters-verified images and video said the damage was consistent with a direct hit; three of the four said it was likely a U.S. weapon rather than an errant Iranian air defense missile.
- Iranian state television said the death toll rose to five — including a 22-year-old woman who died in hospital — with nearly 70 wounded at the wedding in the village of Kuhestak, Sirik County.
- Funeral-goers gathered Thursday afternoon along the Strait of Hormuz coast to mourn victims including 4-year-old Amir-Mohammad Karimi; a local man told Tasnim that "they turned people's joy into mourning."
- Brent crude prices climbed past US$96 per barrel on Thursday, a fourth straight day of gains driven by the sudden escalation of the Iran war.
- Iran retaliated for the Tuesday strikes by attacking U.S. bases in Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain, and reported 18 killed in the latest U.S. assault overall.
- The wedding strike came roughly six months after a missile destroyed a primary school that Iranian officials say killed more than 175 children and teachers; Reuters previously reported an internal U.S. military investigation found U.S. forces likely responsible, but the Pentagon has not released its findings.
Why it matters: The Reuters expert analysis directly undercuts the U.S. military's blanket "never targets civilians" claim and echoes a prior school-strike probe whose findings the Pentagon still hasn't released — a credibility problem for the Trump administration heading into November midterms, compounded by Brent crude clearing US$96 and Iran widening its retaliation to U.S. bases across five host nations.
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