‘Things happen’: How Vance’s comment on Iran wedding strike fits US pattern

From My Lai to civilian killings in Afghanistan, Iraq, the US has often denied role before later quietly acknowledging.

A man sits with a child injured, according to Iranian media, in a strike on a home where a wedding was being held in Kuhestak, southern Iran, at a hospital on Wednesday, September 2, 2026 [Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP]

United States Vice President JD Vance has expressed scepticism about reports of a deadly US attack on a wedding party in the Iranian town of Kuhestak on Tuesday this week, saying he does not trust Iran’s narrative.

However, he added: “Sometimes, things happen,” as he spoke about the claims.

list 1 of 3 Iran, US exchange new attacks: Who was hit in latest strikes?

list 2 of 3 What do we know about the fatal US bombing of a wedding in Iran?

list 3 of 3 Abroad and at odds: How the war has divided Iranians in the diaspora

Speaking on Thursday at a White House news briefing, two days after the attack, Vance said he had no new information about the incident, but maintained that the US “never targets civilians in combat” and would investigate the incident.

Analysts say his comments reflect a long history of the US government minimising or disputing reports of civilian harm in military operations.

Here’s what we know about the strike on a wedding in Iran and how Vance’s response fits into a pattern of claims in US military history.

What happened in Iran?

A missile attack hit a wedding celebration in Iran’s southern town of Kuhestak, Hormozgan, on Tuesday night, killing four people – two women and two children – and injuring 67, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society.

On Wednesday, the Hormozgan governor’s office identified the four killed as four-year-old Amir Ali Karimi, 16-year-old Mohammad Malahi, 43-year-old Kolsoum Malahi and 43-year-old Zarkhatoun Taheri.

The Iranian Red Crescent said the incident was thoroughly documented and released several images from the scene as well as of the children who were injured. It wrote to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, seeking legal action against the perpetrators of the “grave” attack.

Footage showed that several projectiles had struck a telecommunications tower near the city’s shoreline and destroyed it, with locals saying they thought drones had been used. Based on fragments of shrapnel found in Kuhestak, defence experts said it might be a variant of the AGM-84K SLAM-ER, which manufacturer Boeing describes as an advanced precision-guided, air-launched cruise missile with “surgical strike capability”.

The Reuters news agency cited weapons experts who reviewed images and video and said the damage likely resulted from a direct hit by a US munition.

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the strikes in Kuhestak completed a “catalogue of atrocities against the nation of Iran” by the US.

The US says it has launched an investigation.

What have Vance and other US government officials said?

On Tuesday, Tim Hawkins, spokesperson for US Central Command (CENTCOM), said the US was aware of reports of civilian casualties that “originated from Iranian state media” and was “looking into them”.

“The US military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC,” he added, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Vance later said he was “extremely sceptical” of the reports about the wedding strike.

He said the “Iranian state media has not been a very good scribe” about the ongoing conflict, despite the attack being documented by the Iranian Red Crescent Society.

“What I can say with 100 percent confidence is that, unlike the IRGC, the United States never targets civilians in combat,” Vance said. “We never will do that. We never have done that.”

He added: “Unfortunately, obviously, sometimes things happen.”

How does this compare to past military claims about attacks on civilians?

This is not the first time the US government has cast doubt on reports of alleged civilian harm during war, including in the current conflict with Iran.

Minab school strike, Iran

Following a deadly strike which hit a girls’ school in Iran’s Minab on February 28, US President Donald Trump at first stated that he believed Iran was responsible. But as a US probe into the attack progressed, and more satellite data, footage and expert analysis pointed to US responsibility – including the presence of fragments from a US Tomahawk missile – Trump later said: “Nobody did that on purpose” and “mistakes are made” during war.

Civilian casualties in Yemen

The US government has similarly shifted its messaging following several high-profile attacks that killed civilians in Afghanistan, Yemen and Iraq.

Last month, the US acknowledged for the first time that an air campaign against the Houthis in Yemen in April 2025 likely caused numerous civilian casualties , assessing that 153 civilians were killed and 243 wounded. The numbers mark a sharp increase from 2024, when the Pentagon assessed that US military operations had killed two civilians and injured two.

More civilian deaths in Afghanistan

When a 2008 US air attack against Taliban fighters in the Afghan village of Azizabad prompted outrage over reported civilian casualties, the US military at first claimed there had been no civilian deaths. It later acknowledged seven civilian deaths, before revising that figure up to 33. The Afghan government said 90 civilians were killed, mostly women and children.

Abu Ghraib prison, Iraq

In Iraq, US officials initially downplayed the extent of crimes at the Abu Ghraib prison site after 2003 photos emerged of prisoners being abused by US guards. Subsequent inquiries uncovered a more extensive pattern of abuse, including sexual abuse, rape, and physical and psychological torture, resulting in the death of at least one inmate.

In the years that followed, 11 US soldiers were charged with dereliction of duty, maltreatment, aggravated assault and battery. They were convicted in military courts, and nine were sentenced to time in prison. In November 2024, a US jury ruled that Virginia-based defence contractor CACI must pay $42m to three Iraqi men who had been tortured at the prison in 2004.

During the Vietnam War from 1955 to 1975, the US military at first hid reports of a massacre in My Lai, in which US soldiers killed and maimed up to 500 Vietnamese, many of them women and children. After evidence of the killings became public, a US inquiry found that US military officials had participated in a cover-up of the massacre.

What does Vance’s remark about the Iran wedding strike tell us?

Emily Tripp, executive director of Airwars, a watchdog that tracks cases of civilian harm during conflict, said Vance’s scepticism at the latest deadly US attack in Iran reflects a tendency to treat cases of civilian harm “like a PR crisis” rather than with due process.

“The odds are always stacked against civilians – from the moment they get harmed in a poorly planned operation, to when they try to show the world what happened, to when they ask for a response and acknowledgement,” Tripp told Al Jazeera.

“Vance pushing back at these claims, before an investigation is conducted by the military, reflects an instinctive disbelief in the most vulnerable people. And time and again that position has been shown to be false.”

从美莱村惨案到阿富汗、伊拉克平民被杀事件，美国经常否认自身在其中扮演的角色，之后又悄悄承认。

据伊朗媒体报道，2026年9月2日星期三，在伊朗南部库赫斯塔克，一名男子抱着一名在袭击中受伤的儿童来到医院。当时，一户人家正在举行婚礼。[Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP]

美国副总统万斯对本周二美国在伊朗库赫斯塔克镇袭击婚礼的报道表示怀疑，称他不相信伊朗的说法。

然而，他在谈到这些指控时补充道：“有时候，事情就是这样发生的。”

伊朗和美国再次发动袭击：最新袭击中谁是受害者？（列表 1/3）

列表 2/3：关于美国在伊朗婚礼上制造的致命炸弹袭击，我们了解多少？

列表 3/3 海外纷争：战争如何分裂了海外伊朗人

在袭击发生两天后的周四，万斯在白宫新闻发布会上表示，他没有关于该事件的新信息，但他坚持认为美国“在战斗中从不以平民为目标”，并将对该事件进行调查。

分析人士称，他的言论反映了美国政府长期以来淡化或否认军事行动中平民伤亡报告的做法。

以下是我们对伊朗婚礼袭击事件的了解，以及万斯的回应如何符合美国军事史上的一系列说法。

伊朗发生了什么事？

据伊朗红新月会称，周二晚间，伊朗南部霍尔木兹甘省库赫斯塔克镇的一场婚礼庆典遭到导弹袭击，造成四人死亡（两名妇女和两名儿童），另有 67 人受伤。

周三，霍尔木兹甘省省长办公室确认了四名遇难者的身份，他们分别是 4 岁的 Amir Ali Karimi、16 岁的 Mohammad Malahi、43 岁的 Kolsoum Malahi 和 43 岁的 Zarkhatoun Taheri。

伊朗红新月会表示，该事件已被全面记录，并公布了多张现场照片以及受伤儿童的照片。该组织已致函国际刑事法院检察官办公室，要求对这起“严重”袭击的肇事者采取法律行动。

录像显示，数枚炮弹击中了库赫斯塔克市海岸线附近的一座电信塔并将其摧毁。当地居民认为袭击使用了无人机。根据在库赫斯塔克发现的弹片碎片，国防专家表示，这可能是AGM-84K SLAM-ER导弹的变型弹。制造商波音公司称该导弹是一种先进的精确制导空射巡航导弹，具备“外科手术式打击能力”。

路透社援引武器专家的话称，专家们查看了图片和视频后表示，此次破坏很可能是由美国弹药直接命中造成的。

伊朗外交部表示，库赫斯塔克的空袭完成了美国对伊朗民族犯下的“一系列暴行”。

美国方面表示已展开调查。

万斯和其他美国政府官员都说了些什么？

周二，美国中央司令部（CENTCOM）发言人蒂姆·霍金斯表示，美国已经注意到“源自伊朗国家媒体”的有关平民伤亡的报道，并正在“调查此事”。

“与伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队不同，美军从不以平民为目标，”他补充道，这里指的是伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队。

范斯后来表示，他对有关婚礼罢工的报道“极其怀疑”。

他说，尽管伊朗红新月会记录了这次袭击，但“伊朗国家媒体对这场持续冲突的报道并不好”。

“我可以百分之百肯定地说，与伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队不同，美国在战斗中从不以平民为攻击目标，”万斯说。“我们永远不会这样做，也从未这样做过。”

他补充道：“很遗憾，很显然，有时候事情就是会发生。”

这与以往军方声称袭击平民的说法有何异同？

这并非美国政府第一次对战争期间平民伤亡的报道表示质疑，包括在目前与伊朗的冲突中。

伊朗米纳布学校罢工

2月28日，伊朗米纳布一所女子学校遭到致命袭击后，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普最初表示，他认为伊朗应对此负责。但随着美国对此次袭击的调查不断深入，越来越多的卫星数据、视频和专家分析指向美国，包括现场发现的美国“战斧”导弹碎片，特朗普随后改口称：“没有人故意这么做”，并表示“战争中难免会犯错”。

也门平民伤亡

在阿富汗、也门和伊拉克发生多起造成平民伤亡的重大袭击事件后，美国政府也相应地改变了其宣传策略。

上个月，美国首次承认，2025年4月针对也门胡塞武装的空袭行动可能造成大量平民伤亡，评估结果显示有153名平民死亡，243人受伤。这一数字较2024年大幅上升，当时五角大楼评估称，美军行动造成两名平民死亡，两名平民受伤。

阿富汗平民死亡人数更多

2008年，美军空袭阿富汗阿齐扎巴德村，打击塔利班武装分子，引发了公众对平民伤亡的强烈愤慨。美军最初声称没有平民死亡，后来承认有7名平民丧生，之后又将死亡人数修正为33人。阿富汗政府则表示，共有90名平民遇难，其中大部分是妇女和儿童。

伊拉克阿布格莱布监狱

在伊拉克，2003年美军狱警虐待囚犯的照片曝光后，美国官员最初淡化了阿布格莱布监狱的罪行严重程度。随后的调查揭露了更为广泛的虐待行为，包括性虐待、强奸以及身心折磨，导致至少一名囚犯死亡。

在随后的几年里，11名美军士兵被控玩忽职守、虐待、严重袭击和殴打罪。他们在军事法庭被定罪，其中9人被判处监禁。2024年11月，美国陪审团裁定，总部位于弗吉尼亚州的国防承包商CACI公司必须向三名伊拉克男子支付4200万美元的赔偿金，这三名伊拉克男子于2004年在该监狱遭受酷刑。

在1955年至1975年的越南战争期间，美军最初隐瞒了美莱村大屠杀的报告。在那场屠杀中，美军士兵杀害或致残了多达500名越南人，其中许多是妇女和儿童。屠杀证据公之于众后，美国的一项调查发现，美军官员参与了对这场屠杀的掩盖。

范斯关于伊朗婚礼袭击事件的评论告诉我们什么？

监督冲突中平民伤亡案件的组织 Airwars 的执行董事艾米丽·特里普表示，万斯对美国最近在伊朗发动的致命袭击表示怀疑，反映出一种将平民伤亡案件“当作公关危机”处理，而不是按照正当程序处理的倾向。

“从平民在计划不周的行动中受到伤害，到他们试图向世界展示发生了什么，再到他们要求得到回应和承认，平民的处境总是非常艰难，”特里普告诉半岛电视台。

“在军方展开调查之前，万斯就反驳这些说法，这反映出他对最弱势群体的本能不信任。而事实一次又一次地证明，这种立场是错误的。”