Commenting on a strike that killed or injured more than 70 people in Iran’s Sirik, US Vice President JD Vance said Thursday “sometimes things happen” in combat.
Vance said the US was investigating reports that a US strike on a wedding celebration in Kuhestak region, of Sirik County in southern Iran, killed and wounded civilians. He said he had been briefed on the investigation “but did not have information establishing whether US forces were responsible.”
“I’m extremely skeptical of this,” Vance said, referring to Iranian state media reports, which he claimed had not provided “reliable accounts” of the conflict.
“What I can say with 100% confidence is that, unlike the IRGC, the United States never targets civilians in combat,” Vance said. “We never will do that. We never have done that.”
He acknowledged that civilian casualties can occur during military operations, saying: “Unfortunately, obviously, sometimes things happen.” He added that “if the US military makes mistakes, it investigates them and learns from them.”
Iranian Health Ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said Thursday that at least 18 people had been martyred and 142 injured in recent US airstrikes between the evenings of Aug. 30 and Sept. 2.
He said the reported casualties included four people in Sirik, seven in Khuzestan, four members of the IRGC Aerospace Force in Kermanshah and three Basij members on Lavan Island.
Kermanpour also said at least 50 people were wounded at a wedding gathering in Sirik, adding to concerns over civilian casualties during the conflict.
Meanwhile on Thursday, the IRGC released a statement in which it called for American leaders to be held to account before global public opinion for their military strikes on wedding ceremonies, providing full account of US Attacks on wedding ceremonies in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and Iran since 2002.
The US lethal strike on a wedding in southern Iran was far from a first. Washington's dark HISTORY of targeting WEDDING CEREMONIES stretches back decades.
— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) September 3, 2026
Here is a timeline.
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Source: Al-Manar English Website