At approximately 9:30-10:00 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 September, 2026, a series of alleged U.S. strikes killed five people - two children and three women - and injured up to 74 others at a wedding ceremony and surrounding areas in Bandar-e Kuhestak, Iran. A telecommunications tower, between 360 and 430 feet away from the celebration, was also struck, with reports the Kuhestak port pier was also potentially impacted. Although the U.S. military announced strikes in Iran on September 1st, no information was provided on the locations hit.
Four-year-old Amir-Mohammad Karimi (named by other sources as Amir-Ali Karimi, and reported by several to be six) was killed at the wedding, as was 43-year-old Kolsoom Mallahi-Nejandnia and 50-year-old Zarkhatun Taheri. A 16-year-old, Mohammad Mallahi, was riding his motorcycle near the communications tower when he was struck in the head and killed. Two days after the attack, a fifth victim - identified as 22-year-old woman Asieh Molaeinejad - died of her wounds, the Balochistan Human Rights Documentation Network reported. All of the deceased were members of the Baloch minority community in Iran. It is likely that many of those injured were also, as the town has a significant Baloch population.
The U.S. military did not publicly confirm conducting the strike but a "person familiar with the operation" told The Washington Post it was a U.S. strike, claiming there was a "high likelihood" the munition was targeting the communications tower and missed.
Those killed
16-year-old Mohammad worked as a fisherman, following in the footsteps of his father, Esmail. He was the youngest of six siblings in a family from Bandar-e Kuhestak, and had three sisters and two brothers. His body was so badly damaged in the strike, The New York Times reported, that his family had to use "the mobile phone found on his body to confirm it was him." A funeral was held for him the following day, which was captured in a video posted by the Balochistan Human Rights Documentation Network.He was with his sister at the time of the strike; she was injured.
Amir, who was set to begin kindergarten, had been excited to attend the wedding, looking forward to a chance to “play, dance, and be happy with the family’s children.” He was with his 14-year-old sister, Kiana, at the time of the strike; the two were said to be holding hands. Kiana was seriously injured. When she heard the sound of the explosions, Amir's mother said, "she ran into the streets to search for her children, and found them covered with dust and shrapnel." A friend of Kiana, Asma, recalled that Amir was "such a good kid. Wherever we went, he was always with us." She said that she wished she had been killed instead of Amir, because he "was so little." Asma is 13.
@Nournews_ir included a photograph of Amir, wearing a black shirt. Another photograph was shared by @Tasnimnews showing Amir post-death: with his body covered by a blue sheet, only his small feet are visible. Mehr News would later publish a video interview with Amir's parents, holding the bloodied clothes he was wearing.
Kolsoom Mallahi-Nejandnia had initially survived, thrown into panic after the first strike and looking for her children. She was injured in the second strike, though her injuries appeared non-serious: "She apparently had only stepped on some broken glass, causing minor cuts and bleeding." When she began to develop "shortness of breath," she was taken to a medical centre, where it was discovered she had also been hit by shrapnel. She died shortly thereafter - Ali Taheri, her husband "helped his wife out of the car in Minab, put her in a wheelchair, then onto a hospital bed. He was separated from her outside the resuscitation room. About an hour later, he was told that Kolthoum had died." Ali, a member of the Gaherdow Village Council, slammed national medical services for incompetence and poor supplies. The Kuhestak Medical Centre, where Kolsoom had been treated, had not had enough oxygen. It is likely the Centre was a smaller clinic; Mehr News reported that the nearest functional hospital was in Minab and denied Kuhestak had functioning medical centres. It was unacceptable, Taheri said. "If there had been oxygen there, my wife would not have died [...] We are in wartime conditions. Why, instead of ambulances and equipment sitting unused in Tehran, are personnel, equipment, ambulances, and specialist doctors not sent to us so that if something happens again, the injured can be treated and do not lose their lives? A clinic that is supposed to serve 50,000 to 60,000 people cannot provide proper services and does not have oxygen. [...] Shouldn’t the healthcare system be properly equipped during wartime?” Kolsoom was gone, Taheri said, and "she will not come back even if people write about her a thousand times.
Kolsoom is survived by her five children: "two university-aged young adults, a four-year-old child, and two teenagers, one in eighth grade and the other in twelfth grade." She and Ali had been married for 25 years.
22-year-old Asieh was from Bandar-e Pol and had traveled to attend the wedding as a guest. She died while receiving treatment for severe injuries at Minah Hospital two days after the attack.
@mehrnews reported that while two of those killed died at the scene, two others died in the hospital “due to the severity of their injuries.” While Kolsoom died at the hospital, it is unclear who the other hospital death was.
The injured
Sources provided a range of figures for the injured, with initial reports claiming 63 people had been wounded. As the hours passed this number increased, with Iran’s Red Crescent Society reporting that 67 people were injured, and others reporting 68 and subsequently, 74. @Tasnimnews, first reporting the 63 wounded with information from the Sirik County Governor, specified that “more than 50 are children and women.” As such, a maximum figure of 22 women injured has been recorded - the maximum toll of children subtracted from 50. At least 19 of those injured were under 10.
The force of the detonation and the subsequent fire “left people trapped under the rubble,” according to Haalvsh. A local photographer, Kian, clarified to the New York Times that the strike hit the section of the wedding venue reserved for women, adding "That is why most of those injured are women and children." Both the bride, Maryam, and groom, Ziaeddin, were injured and hospitalised. To Rouydah24, Maryam's mother, Ameneh, said, "I can’t really understand anything, and I don’t properly remember what happened. We were in the middle of the ceremony and celebration when suddenly there was the sound of an explosion and the house collapsed on top of us. The ceremony was at our house, and suddenly everything was gone." Shrapnel had hit her hand. Though she confirmed Maryam and Ziaeddin were safe, her "other children have been injured, and we are now at the hospital with the whole family.”
Seven-year-old Sepehr Mallahi was injured. A video shared by the Balochistan Human Rights Documentation Network shows his father comforting him before he undergoes surgery. Another boy, Ahmad, was also injured, shown in a video shared by @isnamedia. Another child, 12-year-old Ayesheh Mallahi was injured alongside her cousin. Ayeshah sustained injuries to her face and hand; her cousin was wounded in the lower back and shoulder. Ayesheh's father, Behrouz, reported that many adults ferried children to hospitals once they realised they were wounded: "Whenever they saw a child, they took them to the medical center without checking whether it was their own child or someone else’s. There was no time to wait for emergency responders." Behrouz found Ayesheh and her cousin, who had "a large piece of flesh torn from the lower back by shrapnel." Though both required surgery, they have since been discharged. Ayesheh was traumatised from the incident. “The first thing I remember about her afterward was the fear," Behrouz recalled to Fararu News. "She said, ‘I don’t want to come back to Kuhestak anymore. They will hit me again.’ My younger son was the same. He came to the hospital and said, ‘Let’s sleep here in the hospital.’ Our house is very close to the site of the explosion, so they are afraid it will be hit again.”
13-year-old Asma Zarei, the friend of Kiana and known to Amir, was injured, hit by shrapnel in her left side. In a video shared by Mehr News in which Asma describes her wounds, it appears she was so grievously wounded, part of her abdominal organs were protruding.
Mohammad Mallahi - known as “Mah Kalat” and no relation to the deceased Mohammad Mallahi - was also injured, sustaining wounds in his head, shoulder and leg. Mohammad is an artist and activist in local music and theatre in Sirik. In an interview from the hospital with @Nournews_ir, Mohammad recalled the events of the strike; his injured son can be seen in a nearby bed. “We were on our way to the wedding,” Mohammad said, “and were already nearby when we heard the sound of a fighter jet. Just as we arrived, the explosion occurred. It was a very powerful explosion.” He affirmed that many were injured, and that “all the people injured there were common people.” The scene was chaotic, with one man stressing that “blocks were falling and hitting people’s heads. And many small children and women that were there were terribly injured. So many.” One little boy, seen in a video from @isnamedia, was visibly distressed. He did not want to engage with photographers trying to capture his image, the boy’s father said, as he was “upset with everyone.”
Images published by local sources show 31 wounded, of whom most are children. The Red Crescent provided treatment to those injured - while some of the injured received minor injuries and were treated as outpatients, those more grievously wounded were transferred to hospitals in Sirik and Minab. Given the number of injured, hospitals put out calls for blood supplies, with the Balochistan Human Rights Documentation Network writing that “Abolfazl Hospital in Minab requires blood supplies, and eligible citizens have been asked to come forward to donate blood.” A doctor, interviewed by @Tasnimnews, reported that due to the scale of the attack, there were not enough ambulances to ferry people to the hospital; as a result, “most people personally transported their injured family members.” One ward was devoted entirely to caring for those injured in the incident; six of those injured “required intensive emergency care and were admitted to the ICU.” The majority, the doctor said, were women and children. “This really made our work difficult. When you see a small child crying out in pain, it really diminishes your ability to endure it; emotions take over. Seeing the injured children here, who had been subjected to this attack, was truly very difficult.”
@mehrnews shared a video taken at a hospital. One little girl, who appeared to have received minor injuries, says that she only “went to buy ice cream when they hit us.” Held in her father’s arms, she admits, “I was very scared.” Another little girl was interviewed by @Tasnimnews from her hospital bed. She had first heard the explosion at the pier, followed by one at the telecommunications tower. “After that, we heard something moving above us,” she recalled. “Then suddenly there was a sound and it hit the house. We were thrown some distance inside the house, into the room. Then it struck here too.” A fragment or stone hit her shoulder; it “started hurting a little.” She had wanted to “find somewhere where someone could help me,” but was preoccupied with worry for her friend, Asma. “Somehow, I managed to get outside by myself and went to my family. I didn’t even have shoes on. I also had several scratches. I went to my family. I did not see Asma. But I found out Asma's uncle had taken her to the house. So I felt better. I came inside but my shoulder was hurting.” Later in the day, at least 36 had been discharged, “given that their generous condition is favourable.”
The wedding ceremony was held at the home of Ali Mallahi; his daughter was the bride. @Tasnimnews shared a video capturing the damage to the home - the detonation ripped a hole in the roof. @farsna included a video showing debris littered across the house. Shoes, worn for the wedding, are scattered throughout. Ali, who owns a commercial dhow and a brick factory, spoke to Hormozgan News Qeshm News, recalling that it had been a “very distressing incident.” He was “still extremely worried and upset about what happened.” “I really don’t know what to say. All I can say is, thank God there weren’t more casualties.” @rasanknews, quoting Ali, reported that he “specifically said” that “two drones” were used.
One wedding guest, Motahareh, who had posted a story to her social media account ours before the wedding expressing her excitement for the event, admitted that her “whole body is shaking.” “There is no military facility anywhere around this house,” she stressed. “It is as if they were given precise coordinates and four missiles came down on a house where there was nothing but a wedding, with all those people there. God help us.”
Guest Sharifeh Zakeri-Navaz narrowly escaped the strike by leaving the wedding early to feed her grandchild. The child had said they were hungry, and though Sharifeh told them food would be served at the reception, they insisted, “so we went home together to eat. I prepared the food, and just as we sat down at the table, there was an extremely loud explosion. There was one explosion after another. I said, ‘They hit Ali’s wedding.’ I started shouting, ‘It was Ali’s house! It was Ali’s house! It was the wedding house!’” Upon returning, Sharifeh realised her own daughter-in-law had been injured in the back of her neck. To Anadolu Agency, she said: “Small children were lying on the ground. Everyone was shouting for things to help the injured: ‘Cloths! Water!’ I immediately brought water and cloths. It was a terrible moment.” The trauma, Sharifeh stressed, was lasting. “All the windows in my house were shattered in this attack as well. We are very afraid. We can’t sleep at night because of the fear. My husband, my child, and my daughter are extremely frightened. We are under enormous pressure and stress.”
An extremely graphic video hosted on Aparat showed the remains of the deceased - some was so destroyed that it had to be carried in plastic bags. An interviewed man said his nine-year-old child had been wounded by shrapnel. A man described finding three young girls, one of whom was possibly Asma. "Then, at this spot, there were three little girls. Another person and I came over ourselves... and put them in the car. They were not in good condition. One of the little girls... with these very hands of mine... I put her organs back in her abdomen. Her abdomen had opened and [her organs] were protruding."
One guest, Masoud, stated that the belligerent would have known they were striking a civilian gathering: “At the same time, in Jask, a missile had struck a location where soldiers from a military base were gathered. The missile there had failed to detonate. That led us to conclude that these attacks were intended to cause casualties and that the engagement ceremony had been deliberately targeted, because the drone circles overhead and monitors people’s movements. It is impossible that it could not have recognised that this was a local civilian gathering rather than a military one.”
Location and Munitions
The Secretary of the Council of Sunni Scholars of Sirik clarified that the wedding had not actually begun at the time of the strike, acknowledging that “if it had been later […] an even worse incident might have occurred.” @fatemhmerzakhan included a video of the beginning of wedding festivities, showing men dancing and signing, with a timestamp of 21:50.
@mahsaaei reported that three rockets were used in the strike, with the Balochistan Human Rights Documentation Network alleging that “at least five explosions” occurred.
@mehrnews reported that the telecommunications tower was “about 136 meters (445 feet)” from the wedding venue. The source claimed that “common US guided weapons have a probable circular error of about 5 meters under normal conditions. Even in the case of GPS interference, it is usually reported to be up to about 30 meters” and considered the distance too large “to explain the ‘calculation error’ in aiming a precision weapon.”@ThomasBordeaux7 put the tower at 430 feet from the venue. BBC Persian supplied similar calculations, reporting that the wedding venue was “approximately 112 metres from the telecommunications tower” and that “there were no military facilities in the area” by the home in which the celebration was taking place. Other homes were also reported damaged. Hammihan Online specified that "neighbouring houses within a radius of approximately 30 to 40 meters had also been damaged," ranging from damage to walls to broken windows.
IRIB News - hosted by Telewebion - included a video which purported to show the munitions used, claiming that it was stamped with information tying it to the U.S. military - "NAVAIR’ stands for Naval Air Systems Command, meaning that it is connected to the U.S. military’s naval aviation systems, and that the designation ‘AGM-154C1’ shown in the image refers to a variant of a guided munition." Additionally, the casing could "become as hot as 450 degrees Fahrenheit [232 Celsius]."
Responses
The United Nations spoke to the incident, with spokesperson Stephane Dujarric emphasising that the “Secretary General is deeply alarmed by reports of civilian casualties, including a strike that reportedly hit a wedding ceremony in Iran.”
While CENTCOM admitted that they had “successfully completed a wave of strikes against Iranian military targets Sept. 1,” they did not speak to this specific incident. CENTCOM spokesperson Captain Tim Hawkins said that though they were "aware of reports," the U.S. military "never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC."