US investigating if missile hit Iran wedding, Vance says

The US military is investigating Iranian claims that its strikes killed at least four people including two children at a wedding in southern Iran, Vice-President JD Vance has said.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) - a humanitarian group - said shrapnel from a missile hit the ceremony at a home in Sirik on Tuesday, prompting Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei to declare it a "war crime".

US missiles were fired the same day over "attempted attacks" by Iran on American forces, but a US Central Command spokesperson said it "never targets civilians".

Speaking on Thursday, Vance said he was "extremely sceptical" over reports of the alleged strike but confirmed the US would investigate.

"I will say that the Iranian state media has not been a very good scribe about what's happened in the conflict thus far. So I'm extremely sceptical of this," Vance told a White House briefing.

"I know that we're investigating."

Iran has launched fresh attacks on US bases in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates in response to the alleged strike.

The IRCS said 67 people were hurt when shrapnel from the missile hit a family wedding ceremony, killing at least four people. Iranian state media said a fifth person, a woman aged 22, had died in hospital shortly after.

The four people killed were named locally as Zarkhatoon Taheri, 50; Kolsum Mallahi Nazhdnia, 43; Mohammad Mallahi, 16; and Amirali Karimi, four.

BBC Verify confirmed a video and two images taken on Tuesday near Kuhestak's coast that showed a telecommunications tower being destroyed, and other videos from Tuesday and Wednesday showed severely damaged houses about 130m (427ft) north of the tower.

BBC Persian Forensics found the telecommunications tower was about 112m (367 ft) from the house where the wedding was being held.

Fighting with Iran has continued for over half a year since the US and Israel launched a joint attack on the country on 28 February.

-BBC