What happened at the wedding in Kuhestak, Iran, and how does the US explain it?

According to Iranian authorities, a US strike hit a wedding party in Kuhestak, a coastal town on the Strait of Hormuz, killing at least four people and injuring nearly seventy. The strike came during a week of escalation in which the US said it was hitting rocket launchers and other targets linked to the Revolutionary Guard on islands and along the coast, to stop Iran from re-laying mines in the shipping channel.

The US military's response was that it is investigating the incident and that it never deliberately targets civilians. That is standard language, and it does not tell us much yet. In practice these investigations often conclude that the target was legitimate but the intelligence on who was present was wrong, or that a secondary explosion caused the casualties.

The UN Secretary-General has urged both sides to go back to negotiations, warning of devastating consequences for civilians across the region if the escalation continues. That plea has been made several times since the war began and has not yet stuck.

Why does this particular strike matter? Because wedding strikes have a long, ugly history in the region, from Afghanistan to Yemen, and each one hardens public opinion in ways that outlast any military gain. Iran's government will use it to rally support at home, and it will make any ceasefire harder to sell.