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U.S. Iran Strikes Kill Civilians at Wedding in Southern Region

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The United States and Iran exchanged a barrage of strikes overnight, an outburst of violence that killed both military personnel and civilians in Iran, including four people at a wedding. U.S. Central Command said it had struck Iranian military targets in retaliation for attacks on ships and American forces in the region. Four members of the aerospace division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps were killed in a U.S. strike in the western city of Kermanshah. At least 12 people were killed in strikes across Iran’s southern region.

Among the locations hit by the U.S. military was a wedding in a residential area in the small port town of Kuhestak in the Hormozgan province of southern Iran, according to Iranian officials. Four people, including a child, were killed in the attack, with around 50 others wounded and hospitalized. U.S. Central Command said it was aware of the reports, stating the U.S. military never targets civilians, unlike the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. In response, the Revolutionary Guards said they had launched missiles overnight at an American military base in Jordan, at U.S. military equipment warehouses in Iraq and at an air base in Kuwait hosting American forces.

The military in Jordan said 13 ballistic missiles had entered the country’s airspace, with ten intercepted and three others falling in remote areas. Kuwait’s military said its air defenses were confronting attacks by Iranian drones, and Bahrain’s military said it had intercepted Iranian aerial attacks. The Revolutionary Guards also claimed two oil tankers trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz had struck mines, exploded and were on fire.

Iran has insisted it should control the passage of ships through the strait, which sits on its southern coast. The U.S. Navy has been helping ships navigate a southern route through the strait, near the coast of Oman, drawing Iran’s ire. In the statement, the Revolutionary Guards promised unspecified additional punishments for ships that took the U.S.-backed route.