US Vice-President JD Vance has said the American military is investigating Iranian claims that a US strike killed at least four people, including two children, at a wedding in southern Iran. The Iranian Red Crescent Society said shrapnel from a missile struck the ceremony in Sirik, prompting Iran's foreign ministry to call it a "war crime", while US Central Command insisted it "never targets civilians". The incident has escalated tensions, with Iran launching fresh attacks on US bases in Kuwait and the UAE in response, deepening a conflict that has continued for more than six months since the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on 28 February.

The Red Crescent said 67 people were injured and named the four dead as Zarkhatoon Taheri, 50, Kolsum Mallahi Nazhdnia, 43, Mohammad Mallahi, 16, and four-year-old Amirali Karimi, with Iranian state media later reporting a fifth death, a 22-year-old woman. Vance told a White House briefing he was "extremely sceptical" of the claims, citing Iranian state media's poor track record on reporting the conflict, though he confirmed a US investigation was underway. BBC Verify examined footage showing a destroyed telecommunications tower and damaged houses roughly 130m away near Kuhestak's coast, with BBC Persian Forensics calculating the tower was about 112m from the wedding venue.