Shoes scattered, lungs torn out: Eyewitnesses recount US strike on Iran wedding

A US missile strike hit Kuhestak in southern Iran, with residents reporting a wedding gathering was caught in the blast. The attack, which killed at least five people and injured more than 50, is now under US scrutiny amid escalating hostilities with Tehran.

In Short

• Local vendor Sasan Zarei described scattered shoes and devastating rescue scenes
• Residents pulled people and belongings from rubble after Tuesday's explosions
• Rights groups and Iranian media said most casualties included children

The shoes were scattered across the ground, children were among the wounded and a wedding celebration had been turned into a scene of devastation in Kuhestak, a small coastal town in southern Iran.

Days after the US strike, the signs of the blast remained etched across the town — damaged buildings, piles of rubble and belongings left behind as residents fled the chaos. At least five people were killed, including a child, while more than 60 others were injured, according to Iranian media and rights groups.

“There was dust and smoke everywhere. Someone was shouting, someone was screaming,” local resident Suleiman Zakiri Fard told Iran's WANA news agency, according to Reuters. “People were coming out one by one, some with blood all over their faces.”

Fard said he witnessed two drone strikes that hit the wedding gathering after a missile strike on a nearby telecommunications tower.

The wedding had been about to begin when the explosions struck. According to AP, women and children had gathered at a family compound for the ceremony, although the bride and groom had not yet arrived.

‘THE SCENES WERE VERY HEARTBREAKING'

For 34-year-old Sasan Zarei, a local vendor, the aftermath was equally harrowing.

Zarei said he was outside the town when he heard the explosions on Tuesday. He rushed towards the site after learning that the home of local resident Ali Mallahi had been hit and joined others searching through the rubble.

“We rushed to help, and recovered people and stuff from under the rubble. Most of the injured were kids,” Zarei told the Associated Press (AP).

He recalled seeing shoes scattered around the blast site and described the injuries suffered by children.

“The scenes were very heartbreaking. The shoes had been scattered everywhere. One of the kids had their lungs torn out. They are now hospitalized,” Zarei said, according to AP.

Zarei also disputed the suggestion that the area was a military site.

“The US, out of desperation and fear of Iran's missiles, (hit) the innocent people. This was not a military area or anything like that,” he said.

The reported strike has since become the focus of questions over whether a US munition directly hit the wedding gathering.

WEAPONS EXPERTS POINT TO DIRECT US STRIKE

The United States has not accepted responsibility for the incident. However, an analysis by Reuters of verified images and videos found that the explosion at the wedding was likely caused by a direct hit from a US munition rather than a ricochet from another target.

Reuters shared images and footage from the scene with four military weapons experts. Three said the munition was likely a US weapon rather than an errant Iranian air-defence missile, while one suggested that the weapon may have missed its intended target.

The wedding location was about 135 metres from a telecommunications tower that was reportedly targeted in the US operation, according to Reuters.

Iranian authorities have also pointed to evidence recovered from the scene. The Chief Justice of Hormozgan province told WANA that fragments found at the site belonged to the US military.

Footage filmed in Kuhestak on Friday showed damaged buildings and rubble still littering the streets, several days after the blast.

VANCE SAYS US IS INVESTIGATING

US Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that Washington was investigating reports that a US strike had hit a wedding.

“We’re investigating it very fully,” Vance said, adding that the United States does not target civilians during combat but that “sometimes things happen”.

US Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins also said the military was looking into reports of the strike on the wedding. He did not say whether a formal investigation had been launched.

The US military has said its wider operations in southern Iran targeted military assets, including air-defence systems, radar installations, maritime assets and communications sites.

The incident has nevertheless intensified scrutiny of the civilian toll of the renewed US-Iran hostilities.

A TOWN CAUGHT IN WIDER WAR

Kuhestak is one of several small towns along Iran's barren southern coastline, close to the strategically important Strait of Hormuz.

The reported strike came as Washington and Tehran exchanged attacks after a month-long lull in hostilities. Iran launched retaliatory missile and drone attacks against US forces and American allies in the region following the latest US bombardment.

The Strait of Hormuz has emerged as a major flashpoint in the conflict, with the US accusing Iran of disrupting shipping through the vital waterway. The escalation has raised fears of a wider regional conflict and possible disruption to global energy supplies.

For Kuhestak, however, the consequences of that confrontation have been painfully local.

A place where families had gathered for a wedding was reduced to rubble. The celebration never began, and residents were left searching for survivors amid shattered homes and scattered belongings.

The tragedy has also revived memories of another deadly strike nearby. In February, a US missile strike destroyed a primary school in Minab, around 30 kilometres from Kuhestak, killing more than 175 people, according to Iranian officials.

Now, once again, residents are left to pick through the wreckage of a conflict being fought far beyond their small coastal town — and to mourn a celebration that became another chapter in its growing list of wartime tragedies.

- Ends