Senators demand investigation into reported US strike on Iranian wedding

Six Democratic senators on Friday demanded a full investigation into a Sept. 1 strike in Kuhestak, Iran, that killed civilians gathered for a wedding and that weapons experts and visual analyses have linked to a US munition.

Senators Brian Schatz, Patty Murray, Jeanne Shaheen, Jack Reed, Mark Warner and Chris Coons issued a joint statement calling for the Pentagon to investigate the incident and publicly release its findings.

“Reports that a strike on a home in Kuhestak, Iran that killed four civilians, including women and a child, and injured more than 60 others was likely caused by an errant U.S. bomb are shocking and deeply troubling," the senators said.

They said this was not the first time that US strikes have resulted in civilian casualties "during this war of choice."

This incident must be "fully and impartially" investigated, and the full investigation must be shared publicly with Congress and the American people, they added.

More recently, a UN-backed fact-finding mission said there were reasonable grounds to believe the US committed war crimes in two February airstrikes in Iran, one of which hit a school in Minab and killed at least 178 civilians, among them women and children.

"The public deserves to know what led to these failures and what is being done to prevent similar incidents in the future. This war must end," the senators said.

The senators' call comes amid continued scrutiny of the war's casualties and costs. So far, 19 US service members have been killed and more than 750 wounded since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, according to the Pentagon.

The Department of Defense has also told congressional defense committees that military operations against Iran had cost an estimated $43.6 billion through Sept. 3, according to media reports Friday.