The US vice-president, JD Vance, said “sometimes things happen” when asked on Thursday whether an American strike was responsible for killing four people, including a child, at a wedding in southern Iran this week.
The strike hit Kuhestak, a town in Sirik county near the Strait of Hormuz.
The number of people killed was reported by the Iranian Red Crescent, a group that works with the International Red Cross and operates independently of the Iranian government. This organisation is generally seen as reliable by international monitors when it comes to reporting casualties.
At a White House press briefing, when asked if the US was responsible, Vance dismissed the report.
“I will say that the Iranian state media has not been a very good reporter on what’s happened in the conflict so far, so I’m extremely skeptical of this,” he said, without acknowledging that the killings had been confirmed by an internationally recognized humanitarian group.
“What I can say with 100% confidence is that, unlike the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] IRGC, the United States never targets civilians in combat,” Vance continued.
“We never will do that. We never have done that, and unfortunately, obviously, sometimes things happen.”
Vance told reporters he had no new information about the specific strike but said the US was investigating and, unlike Iran, learns from its mistakes.
He also said the conflict between the US and Iran, which has now lasted seven months and led to the deaths of 18 US service members, was not currently “a war.” His comment angered Democrats and critics.
“It’s unbelievable gaslighting,” said Congressman Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, in a video posted to X.
“This is war,” he added.
“You know who understands it’s a war? Donald Trump.He claims that we’re winning the war.”
Earlier on Thursday, Trump tweeted that the US had “virtually unlimited” amounts of mid- to high-grade weapons and called journalists who reported on the Pentagon’s dwindling supplies “treasonous SCUM.”
These comments came amid an ongoing US-Iran conflict with no sign of long-term peace despite months of stalled talks.
The US and Iran exchanged fire earlier this week, raising fears of more escalation in the region.
US Central Command said the broader strike package targeted Iranian air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets, and communication facilities, but did not specify whether the wedding venue was a target.The Red Crescent said shrapnel from the US missile strike hit the home where the wedding was taking place, killing four people and injuring more than 50 others.
Iranian authorities have previously claimed the death toll from US and Israeli strikes is in the thousands.
These figures have been largely supported by outside observers, including US-based monitoring groups.
The strike has also led to renewed scrutiny of a US attack on February 28, about 23 miles away in Minab, that hit a school compound and killed at least 156 people, most of them children.
A preliminary US military review reportedly found that the strike was due to a targeting error, as outdated coordinates mistakenly identified the school as part of a nearby Revolutionary Guard naval base.The Pentagon said it was investigating at the time, but a full report hasn’t been released yet.
About the Author
