United States Faces Fresh Controversy Over Alleged Strike on Civilians: “Four Killed” in Wedding Venue Bombing

[Financial News] The United States, which faced controversy in February over the bombing of an elementary school in Iran, has been accused of bombing a civilian wedding venue during an airstrike on Iran on the 1st (local time). At least four people were killed and about 50 injured in the strike.
According to foreign media outlets, including the Associated Press, Ahmad Nafisi, deputy governor for political, security and social affairs of Hormozgan Province in southern Iran, appeared on Iranian state television that day and said the United States had carried out an airstrike on a private home in Kuhestak, Sirik County, Hormozgan Province. A wedding was taking place at the house. Nafisi claimed that two people were killed and at least 50 injured in the strike. The Red Crescent Society, the Islamic world’s equivalent of the Red Cross, later announced that the death toll had risen to four, including one child, saying, “After the United States missile attack, debris struck the house where a wedding was taking place.” Fifteen ambulances were dispatched to the scene, and some of the injured were transferred to Minab Hospital for specialized treatment. Rescue teams worked to clear the building’s rubble and search the site.
The Associated Press reported that the attack occurred as the United States resumed airstrikes in southern Iran that day against targets linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). CENTCOM, which is responsible for operations against Iran, said it had attacked Iranian military rocket launchers on the 30th of last month to prevent Iran from laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz. On the 1st, it also said it had conducted airstrikes in southern Iran, claiming that the IRGC had “recently attempted attacks against civilian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and nearby United States service members.”
Iranian media reported that the strikes hit several areas in southern Iran, including Sirik, Qeshm Island, Bandar Abbas, Chabahar and Konarak. Iranian state television claimed that civilian facilities, including a fishmeal factory, a fishing-boat pier and port infrastructure, were also damaged.
The United States has not issued a separate statement on civilian casualties at the wedding venue. The Associated Press reported that CENTCOM did not immediately respond to questions about the incident. When the Iran war began on February 28, CENTCOM also attacked Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, Hormozgan Province, with missiles, killing at least 175 people, including elementary school students aged roughly 7 to 12, teachers and parents. United States President Donald J. Trump said in an announcement last June that the incident was still under investigation.
 
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