Iran's Red Crescent takes the Kuhestak wedding strike to the ICC
Iran's Red Crescent Society has asked the International Criminal Court to investigate the missile strike that hit a wedding at a home in Kuhestak, arguing the site's civilian character demands an independent inquiry. The Red Crescent's own tally puts the toll at 4 dead and 67 wounded, while Iran's health ministry separately reported 18 dead and 142 wounded from Tuesday's wider wave of strikes. Centcom maintains it never targets civilians, a position Iran's foreign ministry rejects.
Geopolitics··Evening
Red Crescent asks the ICC to open an independent investigation
The Iranian Red Crescent Society sent a letter to the International Criminal Court on Wednesday asking it to open an investigation into the missile strike that hit a wedding at a home in Kuhestak, near Sirik on Iran's southern coast. The letter argued that the site's civilian character warrants an independent, impartial, thorough and effective inquiry. A Centcom spokesperson has said the US military never targets civilians, and Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei rejected that account, calling the strike a war crime.[1], [2]
Casualty tolls diverge and remain unverified
The Red Crescent said the missile's shrapnel killed 4 people, including two women and two children aged 4 and 16, and wounded 67 at the Kuhestak wedding. Iran's health ministry separately put Tuesday's wider wave of strikes at 18 dead and 142 wounded, a broader figure covering strikes beyond the wedding house alone. None of the casualty counts, from either the wedding or the wider Tuesday strikes, has been independently verified. BBC Verify examined video and CCTV footage and placed a destroyed telecommunications tower about 112 metres from the house where the wedding was held.[1], [2]
Iran's retaliation and the letter to the ICC
Iran answered with missiles and drones aimed at US targets in Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq and Bahrain; Centcom said most were intercepted. Iranian authorities said 14 more people were killed elsewhere in the strikes, a toll that, like the Kuhestak figures, has no independent confirmation. Wednesday's letter to the ICC is the Red Crescent's first formal request for an international investigation into the Kuhestak wedding strike.[2], [1]
