Weapons expert says US missile used in reported wedding strikepublished at 11:41 BST

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By Merlyn Thomas

A weapons expert consulted by BBC Verify says images shared online following the attack which reportedly struck a wedding in Iran show fragments of a cruise missile used by US forces.

N R Jenzen Jones, director of Armament Research Services (Ares), identified the remnants of a fin in pictures from Kuhestak shared by Iranian state TV as being from an AGM-84 Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM-ER).

Image source, IRIB

The US Navy describes the SLAM-ER as being an air-launched “precision strike missile that provides a long range option for pre-planned and target of opportunity missions against land and sea targets”.

“The SLAM-ER was developed as a very precise weapon and, unlike many other munitions, is capable of being re-targeted in flight... There are a handful of known operators of the weapon, including the United States," Trevor Ball, a weapons analyst tells BBC Verify.

US Central Command has released footage of its latest round of overnight strikes in Iran, including a clip showing a missile being launched from what appears to be an American aircraft carrier.

Video has also emerged of an Iranian strike in Aqaba, Jordan, and of the aftermath of the strike on a house in Kujestak, Iran in which the IRCS says least four people have died.

Verified footage shows telecoms tower and houses damagedpublished at 11:07 BST

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BBC Verify has confirmed videos and images showing the aftermath of last night’s US strikes on Kuhestak, a coastal Iranian town on the Strait of Hormuz.

A video and two images captured last night near the coast show the destruction of a telecommunications tower.

Image source, X

Videos filmed last night and this morning also show multiple houses located about 130m (430ft) north of the telecommunications tower severely damaged, with debris scattered around.

According to Iranian media, a wedding ceremony was being held at one of the damaged homes, which led to at least four people being killed, including a four-year-old child.

Image source, X

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Iranian media say there were intense attacks on southern Iran along the coast.

A local official said that at least four civilians including a young child were killed at a wedding ceremony at a home in southern Sirik county, close to the Strait of Hormuz, with dozens more injured.

Although the US says it does not intentionally target civilians, Iranian state media say there were a number of other civilian locations that were hit including a civilian airport and a fishmeal factory. A total of about a dozen people were reportedly killed.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards say four of its personnel were also killed in a US strike in the west of the country.

Image source, Iranian Red Crescent Society

The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) says four people were killed in a US strike on a house in Sirik, where a wedding ceremony was taking place.

Iranian media initially quoted the IRCS as saying that five people had been killed. The number has since been revised.

Now, in an updated statement, external, the Red Crescent says a child was among the four killed and a further 50 people were injured.

The IRCS says it dispatched its teams to the scene to provide aid. Most of those injured were women and children, they add.

The US Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the US Consulate General in Dubai have warned of "the potential for unforeseen escalation" amid rising tensions in the Middle East.

Americans in the region are being urged to "exercise heightened vigilance" and prepare for possible flight cancellations, airspace closures and other travel disruptions.

The advisory also notes that US diplomatic facilities have previously been targeted, both in the Middle East and elsewhere.

It warns that Iran and groups supportive of Iran may target other US interests overseas, including businesses and institutions associated with the US.

Two oil tankers have hit sea mines and exploded while trying to cross the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says in a statement shared by state media Irna.

The tankers went through the mine a few hours ago and are still burning, the IRGC says. It accuses the tankers of being told by the US to go through "an illegal route".

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said Washington is in control of the strait.

The IRGC says its Navy had previously warned of the dangers of crossing the "mined passage".

Six months have passed since the US and Israel launched a war on Iran. It was a conflict that Trump expected to last "four to five" weeks, but nearly 27 weeks in, there's no end in sight.

Recently, Trump said that the war "will continue for as long as necessary" and that there's no timetable to resume peace talks with Tehran.

In the video below, the BBC's Tom Bateman breaks down what Trump has accomplished during the six month war with Iran.

As we mention in the previous post, President Trump has claimed the US has "almost total control" of the Strait of Hormuz. But why is the strait so significant?

The Strait of Hormuz is a key waterway responsible for much of the world's shipping.

Given its proximity to Iran - and significance to world trade - it has been an arena where much of the fighting and diplomacy between Washington and Tehran has played out.

Image source, EPA

US President Donald Trump says he is not forcing Iran to the bargaining table.

• As a reminder, a US-Iran agreement, known as the Memorandum of Understanding, to extend an April ceasefire between the two countries was signed in June. However, that agreement has expired

"I couldn't care less if they sign a worthless, to them, agreement," Trump has written on his social media platform Truth Social.

He says he likes Washington's position "now much better", suggesting that the US has "almost total control" of the Strait of Hormuz.

But Iranian threats and attacks to shipping have stopped most traffic through the key shipping route. While some oil tankers have moved through it in recent weeks, volumes remain much lower than at the start of the war.

Tehran has carried out missile and drone attacks on US targets in Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq and Bahrain after American forces resumed strikes on Iran on Tuesday.

The Jordanian Armed Forces said it had intercepted 13 ballistic missiles, 10 of which were destroyed, while three fell in remote areas. There were no deaths or injuries.

Separately, Kuwait said its air defences were responding to Iranian missile attacks early Wednesday.

Several explosions were also reported in Bahrain, according to Iranian state media.

And according to Iranian news agency Irna, the IRGC has reported striking US bases in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, destroying a maintenance centre, warehouses and equipment.

Image source, Iranian Red Crescent via Reuters

Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has called Washington “THE Great Satan” after US strikes reportedly hit a wedding party in Sirik, southern Iran.

The Iranian Red Crescent says five people, including a child, were killed and more than 50 were injured when a US missile attack hit a home where the wedding celebration was taking place.

The US military said it was aware of the reports but it never targeted civilians.

But this morning, in a post on X, Ghalibaf pointed to civilian fatalities since the start of the war, including at a primary school in Minab, saying: “If a power acts like Satan … it’s Satan."

US Central Command (Centcom) said the strikes on Iran followed “recent attempted attacks” by Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and American forces in the region.

Tehran has since launched a series of attacks on US targets in Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq and Bahrain.

We’ll bring you more on this story.

Image source, Centcom