US Vice President JD Vance publicly addressed investigations into reports of a recent airstrike in Iran that Iranian officials say hit a wedding party, causing multiple civilian deaths and injuries. Speaking at a White House briefing on September 3, Vance confirmed the US is looking into the allegations following Iranian claims of casualties at the event in Sirik county, Iran [1, 2].
Iranian authorities reported that four people initially died and nearly 70 were wounded in the strike, which hit a home during a wedding celebration. Iranian state TV later confirmed a fifth death—a 22-year-old woman who died in hospital. The Iranian Red Crescent specified that one of the deceased was a child and said the strike happened in Kuhestak, Sirik county [1, 3].
The Iranian Health Ministry has reported that at least 18 people were killed and 142 injured in recent US airstrikes across Iran from August 30 to September 2, including civilians struck at the wedding gathering [2].
The US military said it is aware of the Iranian reports but insists it does not target civilians. Vance expressed skepticism about Iranian state media accounts of the conflict. He stated, "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 skeptical of this." However, he did not dismiss the casualty numbers reported by the Iranian Red Crescent [1, 3, 2].
Vance emphasized that the US military never targets civilians: "Sometimes things happen. We never target civilians. We never will do that. We never have done that. If the US military makes mistakes, it investigates them and learns from them." He added, "We're investigating it because obviously we care. We want to know. If we do make mistakes, again, this is a big difference between us and Iran, when our military makes mistakes, they learn from them to try to get better from them." [1, 3, 2]
Regarding the ongoing conflict with Iran, which has lasted seven months and resulted in the deaths of 18 US service members, Vance said the situation is not officially a war. This characterization has drawn criticism from some US Democrats who called it "gaslighting" [3].
Vance also stated that the US is not currently negotiating with Tehran and will only resume talks if Iran stops attacking commercial shipping: "The president’s been very clear: we’re not talking to [Iran], and we’re not going to talk to them unless they stop shooting at commercial shipping." [2]
The investigation into the alleged airstrike on the wedding party remains ongoing as US officials seek to verify the circumstances and assess civilian impact amid heightened tensions in the region [1, 3, 2].
