• Washington says strike incident is under investigation, denies targeting civilians
• Tehran launches missile, drone retaliation at American bases in Kuwait; says Hormuz will not open without its consent
• US extends Middle East troop deployment; Trump dismisses ammunition concerns

KUHESTAK: Iranian mourners carried caskets on Thursday for victims of a United States air strike that reportedly struck a wedding, as Tehran launched overnight retaliatory missile and drone attacks at US bases in Kuwait, despite threats of further strikes from President Donald Trump.

Mourners assembled late on Thursday afternoon outside the village of Kuhestak in Sirik county, along a coastal stretch of the Strait of Hormuz hit by heavy US air strikes.

Iranian officials say four people died and nearly 70 were wounded when a strike hit a home during a wedding ceremony. State television reported that a fifth person, a 22-year-old woman, died in hospital.

“This is the body of martyr Amir-Mohammad Karimi, a 4-year-old child who was martyred in an attack on the country’s south by the criminal American regime,” a reporter from Iran’s Mehr news agency said in footage showing a flag-draped coffin beneath palm fronds.

In other footage, mourners threw petals into the air as doleful music played. A casket was carried past a row of soldiers standing at attention.

“If it was a military location, it wouldn’t be so painful. This was a wedding ceremony, but they turned people’s joy into mourning,” the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted a local man as saying.

US Vice President JD Vance said the incident is under investigation.

“What I can say with 100 per cent confidence is that unlike the IRGC, the United States never targets civilians in combat,” Vance said, referring to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Despite Trump threatening that the US military is prepared to attack Iran “any time we want”, Tehran retaliated with strikes across the Middle East. Iran’s army said it hit the Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base in Kuwait with missiles and drones early on Thursday.

Kuwait’s military said its air defences intercepted the attack, which it called a direct threat to its security and a grave breach of international law.

Amid the escalating conflict, Iran’s parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Commission head Ebrahim Azizi declared that the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened without Iran’s consent. Azizi emphasised that Tehran has proven its ability to make its threats credible to the United States.

Vance disputed this, asserting Iran is losing its grip over the strategic waterway as more oil and gas exit the strait.

However, the vice president blamed Iran’s continued attacks on commercial shipping for high domestic gasoline prices, stating Washington will not hold talks with Tehran unless the attacks stop.

Meanwhile, the United States is extending the deployment of thousands of American troops and military assets across the Middle East into 2027, signalling Washington is preparing for a prolonged conflict.

The extensions, ordered by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, will affect Army units, air defence forces, fighter squadrons and Navy personnel.

According to a letter sent to soldiers’ families, elements of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division could remain in the region well into 2027.

The US military currently has roughly 50,000 troops in the Middle East. Hegseth initially presented the operation as a swift military action, but six months into the war, the Pentagon is preparing for extended deployments lasting a year or longer.

Trump took to Truth Social on Thursday to deny reports of dwindling US ammunition stores, claiming the military has a “virtually unlimited” stockpile. He also confirmed 18 US service members were killed in Iran, clarifying remarks made by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported the deaths of six more naval personnel from US strikes this week, bringing the Iranian military death toll to at least 13 since Tuesday.

Anwar Iqbal in Washington also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2026