Iran has claimed responsibility for strikes on US military bases in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, vowing retaliation over a deadly attack on a wedding in southern Iran that it blamed on Washington.
The latest escalation came on Thursday as US Vice President JD Vance confirmed that Washington was investigating the reported wedding strike, while expressing scepticism about Iran’s account of the incident.
Kuwait’s military said it intercepted missiles and drones launched from Iran, while the Iranian military claimed it had struck the Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base in Kuwait.
Kuwaiti authorities condemned the attack as a “grave breach of the rules of international law.”
Iran’s military also claimed to have targeted Al Minhad Air Base in the UAE, although Emirati authorities did not immediately report an attack on the facility.
The Iranian strikes followed reports that a missile attack on a wedding in the coastal town of Kuhestak killed four people, including a child, and injured more than 50 others.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards chief, Ahmad Vahidi, vowed that the deaths would be avenged.
“The pure blood of these oppressed martyrs… will not go unanswered,” Vahidi said.
Vance, however, said Washington was investigating the allegations while questioning the reliability of Iranian reports.
“I know that we’re investigating,” he told a White House briefing.
He added that Iranian state media had not provided reliable accounts of events during the conflict and said he was “extremely sceptical” of the reports.
US Central Command spokesman Tim Hawkins rejected any suggestion that American forces deliberately targeted civilians.
“The US military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC,” Hawkins said, referring to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The latest confrontation follows days of intense US bombardment of Iranian targets. At least 19 people were reportedly killed in Iran between Tuesday and Wednesday, while Iran’s Tasnim news agency said six members of the Iranian army’s naval forces had also been killed in US attacks this week.
It was not immediately clear whether the six military personnel were included in the reported death toll of 19.
Iran has retaliated with attacks across the Middle East, saying it targeted US military bases and personnel in the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, warned Washington that Tehran had adopted a “new strategy” that would “shatter your foundations.”
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed confidence that Iran’s Islamic Republic could collapse under the pressure of the ongoing conflict.
“This regime is currently teetering. It is weaker than ever. It is fighting for its survival,” Netanyahu said at an event attended by Israeli military leaders.
“I am convinced that we can remove this threat once and for all.”
Beyond military operations, Washington has also threatened to intensify economic pressure on Tehran by imposing sanctions on countries and companies that continue trading with Iran.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the planned expansion of sanctions targeting Iran’s economic partners would deliver “absolutely maximum pressure.”
Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, meanwhile condemned Washington over the alleged wedding attack, describing the United States as “Satan.”
The renewed hostilities have also sparked concern among ordinary Iranians, with some calling for a return to negotiations.
Hossein Moazami, a 50-year-old self-employed Iranian, described the fighting as “truly distressing” and urged both sides to return to the negotiating table.
“I hope they all return to the negotiating table because the only people suffering from this are the Iranian people,” he said.
A video shared by an Iranian government account showed debris and damage at what authorities identified as the wedding site, with people heard screaming in the background.
Ali Mallahi, the bride’s father, described the incident as deeply distressing.
“It is a very saddening incident,” he said in a video broadcast on Iranian state television, adding that the casualties could have been worse.
The conflict reportedly began on February 28 with US-Israeli attacks on Iran that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
A fragile ceasefire later collapsed in July following attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy route through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil supplies had previously passed.
As tensions continue to rise, Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that his country was prepared to respond with “great force” if Iran launched attacks against Israel during the Jewish high holiday season beginning in mid-September.
“For now, they are striking throughout the region except us,” Katz said.
