‘It’s THE Great Satan’: Iran negotiator brands US after children killed at wedding

Tehran, September 2 — Iran's chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, denounced the United States, branding it "Satan" in the wake of an attack on a wedding ceremony in the southern region of Kuhestak. The late-night strike resulted in at least four deaths and numerous injuries among the guests. Ghalibaf highlighted the grim reality that "children were killed alongside their families" during this incident, drawing attention to other deadly incidents Iran has endured at the outset of the Middle East conflict, including an assault on a school in Minab.

"If a power behaves like Satan, targets individuals like Satan, and kills like Satan, it's Satan. Shields a junior Satan that does the same? It's THE Great Satan," Ghalibaf asserted on X, a platform previously used by the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1979 to refer to the United States. In retaliation, Iran retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting US facilities in Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Iraq's Kurdistan region.

The US Central Command (CentcomE) refuted any direct involvement in the wedding attack, stating that "the US military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC," according to CIA spokesman Tim Hawkins.