A United States airstrike on Iran’s Qeshm Island on Thursday, July 30, killed three members of a family and was likely carried out using a 2,000-pound bomb, according to an investigation by The New York Times based on satellite imagery, photographs, videos and expert analysis.
The strike hit a house in the Chah-Tangu neighbourhood of Qeshm City, a densely populated residential area overlooking the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian officials identified the victims as Zahra Jafari, her husband Qeysar Jafari and their two-year-old son, Sina. Their two other children, Mohammad Reza and Mehdi, survived after being rescued from the rubble and remain in stable condition, officials said.
According to the investigation, the size of the impact crater and munition fragments recovered from the scene indicate the weapon was likely a Mark-84 2,000-pound bomb, one of the largest conventional munitions in the US military’s arsenal. Weapons specialists who examined the available evidence said the bomb may have been fitted with a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kit, which converts unguided bombs into precision-guided weapons.
The report said satellite imagery showed a crater measuring at least 30 feet across, while debris and damaged vehicles were scattered more than 200 feet from the impact site. It added that no military installation was identified near the family’s home, nor were there reports of military casualties in the area. Iranian officials said around 20 neighbouring households were displaced by the blast, while two warehouses outside Qeshm City were also destroyed in the same wave of strikes.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the operation targeted sites in southern Iran in retaliation for earlier Iranian attacks on a base used by US forces in Jordan. It acknowledged reports of civilian casualties and said it was reviewing them but did not identify the intended target on Qeshm Island or confirm the weapon used.
“We are aware of the reports and looking into them,” CENTCOM spokesman Capt Tim Hawkins said. “The US military never targets civilians.”
The New York Times said its findings have raised questions about the intended target of the strike and the use of a large-yield bomb in a densely populated residential area. Experts cited in the report noted that international humanitarian law requires armed forces to take all feasible precautions to minimise civilian harm and ensure that any expected military advantage outweighs the potential risk to civilians.
Footage aired by Iran’s Mehr News Agency reportedly showed a wall clock inside one of the damaged homes stopped shortly before 3.40 am local time, broadly matching the timeframe in which CENTCOM said it had begun its overnight strikes on Iran.
