Iranian officials count at least 18 dead along the southern coast, four of them at a wedding compound in Kuhestak; Brent crude passed $90 a barrel and no U.S. casualties were reported in the retaliation.
The United States carried out its largest wave of strikes on Iran in weeks on Tuesday, Sept. 1, hitting roughly 100 targets. Tehran answered by striking American military sites in four countries: Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan and Kuwait. Iranian officials reported at least 18 people killed in the U.S. attacks along the southern coast, four of them at a wedding compound in the port town of Kuhestak. No U.S. casualties were reported. Brent crude, the global benchmark oil price, rose above $90 a barrel. Trump said the renewed operation would not last much longer, and that the November midterm election would not set his timeline. He also warned: "If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level." Iranian President Mahmoud Pezeshkian said Tehran would immediately resume implementing the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding — the June 17 deal that called for a ceasefire and 60 days of talks — if Washington returned to its own commitments. He made that offer before the latest American strikes.
Catch up
- Aug. 30 — The U.S. destroyed two Iranian rocket launchers loaded to mine the Strait of Hormuz, its first acknowledged action inside Iran since July 29. Iran fired eight missiles at bases in Jordan; all were intercepted.
- Sept. 1 — American forces began hitting IRGC air-defense, radar and mine-laying sites along Iran's southern coast at noon. Trump said a larger attack was "waiting in the wings." Brent crude passed $90 a barrel.
- Sept. 2 — Iran said its retaliation had begun as U.S. strikes near the strait continued. Transits through Hormuz fell by half, from about 10 ships a day to five.
11 earlier issues
- Trump Threatens to Bomb Iranian Bridges and Power Plants for Every Ship Hit in Strait of Hormuz
- Iran fires multiple ballistic missiles at U.S. base in Jordan; all are intercepted
- Iran denies Trump’s claim that new U.S. talks would start Monday
- Cargo ship is struck in the Strait of Hormuz
- Vance says the Iran talks are moving, then calls the war only half over
- Iran won't reopen Hormuz until the US unfreezes its assets and lifts the blockade
- Trump threatens to bomb Oman, the U.S. ally brokering the deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz
- Trump declares an "economic D-Day" on Iran as Hormuz traffic runs 85% below normal
- UpdateU.S. goes nearly a month without large Iran strikes as Trump shifts back to sanctions; Hormuz remains closed
- U.S. destroys two Iranian rocket launchers loaded to mine the Strait of Hormuz; Iran fires eight missiles at bases in Jordan, all intercepted
- UpdateU.S. bombs two Iranian rocket sites near the Strait of Hormuz; Iran fires eight missiles at Jordan
The wedding compound at Kuhestak
- A U.S. missile struck a residential compound in the port town of Kuhestak, near the Strait of Hormuz, while a wedding was under way, according to verified footage and a New York Times weapons analysis that concluded the munition was American: fragments matching an AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER, a missile built to land within about 3 meters of its aim point.
- Iranian sources, CBS News, the Associated Press and NBC News reported four people killed; the Times reported five. The Times and the AP put the wounded at more than 60. These dead are counted inside the at-least-18 figure for the coast, not on top of it.
- The nearest apparent military target, a communications tower, stood roughly 100 meters from the house, per the AP. No one in the U.S. government has said the tower was the target; that is an inference drawn from where the missile landed.
- "The missile completely destroyed the roof of the house," said Ali Mallahi, a fisherman whose daughter's wedding was being celebrated. CENTCOM spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins said the military was reviewing the reports and would not say whether a formal civilian-harm investigation had been opened. "The U.S. military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC," he said.
What this retaliation hit, and where the counts stop
- Jordan: 13 ballistic missiles came in, 10 were destroyed, and three fell in remote areas with no casualties.
- Erbil, Iraq: all 10 explosive drones were destroyed, with no casualties or ground damage; Iran's claim of hitting a repair center is unconfirmed.
- Bahrain and Kuwait said attacks were intercepted but published no counts, so 20 of 23 — 87% — is the only interception rate that can be checked.