Washington — The US Department of Defense is investigating whether a US airstrike on a wedding ceremony in southern Iran on Tuesday struck the wrong target, according to officials cited by The Washington Post. The attack killed four people and injured at least 68 others after a bomb intended for a communications complex reportedly landed on a residential building where the wedding was taking place.

The US military had carried out an airstrike on a communications complex in the coastal town of Kuhestak. A US official said the facility was targeted because part of the complex was reportedly being used by the Iranian military for its activities. US Navy jets dropped six bombs aimed at a communications tower, but one reportedly missed its intended target and struck a house about 440 feet from the tower, according to footage verified by The Washington Post.

The incident was also examined by Reuters, which reported that the explosion appeared to have resulted from a direct US strike rather than from a weapon that had been deflected from another target. Weapons experts who analysed photographs and videos verified as authentic by Reuters said the evidence was consistent with the possibility that the blast was caused by a direct US attack. Iran has described the strike on the wedding ceremony as a war crime.

The incident has also revived memories of an earlier strike in southern Iran in February, when an Iranian primary school in Minab was hit during the conflict, reportedly killing more than 150 civilians, including around 120 children. On September 1, the US Central Command said it had carried out several strikes in southern Iran targeting Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps air-defence positions, radar systems and communications facilities, including targets in the vicinity of Kuhestak.

US Vice-President JD Vance said on Thursday that Washington was investigating the incident. “We are investigating it because obviously it concerns us. We want to know,” Vance said. The US military has likewise acknowledged reports about the wedding strike and said it is examining the circumstances surrounding the incident.