US investigating if missile hit Iran wedding, Vance says
The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) said shrapnel from a missile hit the ceremony and killed four people on Tuesday.
US probes whether missile struck Iran wedding, Vance says
The US military is looking into Iranian allegations that its strikes killed at least four people, including two children, at a wedding in southern Iran, Vice-President JD Vance said.
The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), a humanitarian organization, said shrapnel from a missile hit the ceremony at a home in Sirik on Tuesday, leading Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei to call it a "war crime".
US missiles were launched the same day in response to "attempted attacks" by Iran on American forces, though a US Central Command spokesperson said it "never targets civilians".
Speaking on Thursday, Vance said he was "extremely sceptical" about reports of the alleged strike, but confirmed that 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 carried out fresh attacks on US bases in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates in response to the alleged strike.
The IRCS said 67 people were injured when shrapnel from the missile hit a family wedding ceremony, killing at least four people. Iranian state media reported that a fifth person, a 22-year-old woman, died in hospital shortly afterward.
The four people killed were identified 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 showing a telecommunications tower being destroyed, while other videos from Tuesday and Wednesday showed badly damaged houses about 130m (427ft) north of the tower.
BBC Persian Forensics found that the telecommunications tower was about 112m (367 ft) from the house where the wedding was taking place.
Fighting with Iran has continued for more than half a year since the US and Israel launched a joint attack on the country on 28 February.