Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1103 EAT on Thursday 3 September 2026

The Iranian Red Crescent Society has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate a US missile strike that hit a wedding gathering in the southern town of Kuhestak, killing at least four people and injuring dozens.

In a letter to the court on Wednesday, the humanitarian organisation said the attack should be subject to “an independent, impartial, thorough and effective investigation”, citing the location’s civilian nature.

The strike, which took place at 9:30pm local time (18:00 GMT) on Tuesday, killed at least four people and wounded 67, the group said. It warned that the death toll could rise “given the critical condition of some of the injured”.

The victims were two women and two children, aged four and 16. An Iranian official said most of those wounded were also women and children.

The Red Crescent said the attack could constitute a “war crime”, arguing that international law prohibits deliberately targeting civilians or civilian objects, as well as launching attacks when there is knowledge that they could cause disproportionate civilian harm.

The US Central Command said it was aware of reports of the attack carried by Iranian media but denied targeting civilians.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry rejected the US position. Its spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, pointed to previous US military strikes that he said had killed civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In a post on X, Baghaei also argued that such incidents had been depicted in US television programmes.

“The reality is so horrifying that even American propaganda has never dared make the claim [that] CENTCOM is making today,” he wrote. “Sirik is not a story. The civilians are real. The victims are real.”

Neither the United States nor Iran is a party to the ICC’s Rome Statute.

However, Dawn, a human rights organisation, said Iran could still accept the court’s jurisdiction on an ad hoc basis for crimes committed on its territory from a specified date.

“By filing such a declaration, set to the beginning of the war, Iran would grant the ICC jurisdiction over every strike on Iranian soil,” the group said.

The strike on Kuhestak came as the US launched a wave of attacks on Iranian coastal areas near the Strait of Hormuz, which has been under blockade. Washington accused Tehran of attempting to launch attacks against US troops and commercial shipping in the strategic waterway.

Iran’s Health Ministry said at least 18 people were killed in Tuesday’s strikes, while 142 others were wounded.

-Aljazeera

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