The Iranian Red Crescent Society has asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate a missile attack by the United States that hit a wedding party in the southern town of Kuhestak, killing at least four people and wounding dozens. In a letter to the court on Wednesday, the humanitarian group said the attack warrants “an independent, impartial, thorough, and effective investigation” given the “civilian character of the location”. The strike, which took place at 9:30pm local time ( ) on Tuesday, killed at least four people and wounded 67, the group said, warning that the number of deaths may increase “given the critical condition of some of the injured”.
Those killed were two women and two children, aged four and 16. An Iranian official said most of the wounded were also women and children. The Red Crescent said the attack could amount to a “war crime”, noting that international law prohibits directing attacks against civilians or civilian objects, or launching a strike while knowing it could cause disproportionate civilian harm.
The US Central Command said it was aware of the reports about the attack in Iranian media, but said it does not attack civilians. Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the claim, with spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei citing past US strikes on civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan. He noted on X that such attacks have also been portrayed in US television shows.
The victims are real.” Neither the US nor Iran are party to the ICC’s Rome Statute. But Dawn, a human rights group, said Iran could still accept the court’s ad hoc jurisdiction over crimes committed on its territory from a specific date. The strike in Kuhestak came as the US launched a wave of attacks on Iranian coastal areas near the blockaded Strait of Hormuz, accusing Tehran of attempting to launch strikes against US troops and commercial shipping in the waterway.
Iran’s Ministry of Health said at least 18 people were killed in Tuesday’s strikes, while 142 were wounded. Iran’s envoy to the United Nations, Gholamhossein Darzi, called on the UN Security Council to condemn the Kuhestak attack. A second round of hostilities, from July 27 to August 24, killed a further 59 people and wounded 666.
The deadliest single attack of the war, in terms of civilian casualties, destroyed an elementary school in Minab on February 28, the war’s first day. At least 156 people, including 120 children, were killed. A separate strike that day hit a sports hall in Lamerd, killing 21 people, including four children.
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