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

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

Key points

• Esmaeil Baghaei, the spokesman for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, remarked the "brutal" attack hit a residence in the city of Kuhestak early on Wednesday.
• Tasnim, a semi-official Iranian news agency, documented further explosions in the south of the country, including in Konarak, Bandar Abbas and on Qeshm Island.
• Iran's military remarked it retaliated with attacks on US bases in Jordan and Bahrain.
• All of the wounded have been taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Minab and are "in stable condition, " he remarked.
• The semi-official Fars news agency published an account from a child who survived the blast.

Esmaeil Baghaei, the spokesman for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, remarked the "brutal" attack hit a residence in the city of Kuhestak early on Wednesday. Iran's Press TV documented that at least five residents were killed.

Reza Shahidiyan, the governor of Sirik county, afterwards informed the IRIB state broadcaster that at least 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 are "in stable condition, " he remarked.

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

Notably, the child remarked he heard fighter jets before he arrived at the venue.

"When we arrived there, an explosion occurred. It was particularly intense. Bricks, stones, and cement hit me in the face and head, and plenty of others were injured, " he stated. "Everyone was just ordinary civilians."

For context, the reports came as the US military confirmed a new wave of attacks against "Iranian military targets", saying it followed attempted attacks by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and on US troops.

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

Meanwhile, the strikes follow a weekend exchange of fire, the first since July and the most significant escalation since then. They come against the backdrop of a continuing standoff over the Strait of Hormuz. It tehran has blockaded since the start of the war on February 28, driving up global energy costs. Baghaei, the Iranian spokesman, promised to respond to the US attacks.

When US forces struck an elementary school on February 28 and killed more than 150 residents, most of them children, and in the city of Lamerd, when US forces hit a sport hall on the same day, killing at least 21 individuals, "This cruelty cannot be separated from the chain of atrocities that preceded in it, " he remarked, including in the city of Minab.

Iran's military remarked it retaliated with attacks on US bases in Jordan and Bahrain. Kuwait additionally noted intercepting missiles.

For context, the IRGC remarked it had shot down a US MQ-9 drone using a new air defence system.

Taken together, the developments around iran says US bombed a wedding party in Sirik, killing five point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.