US Kills Iranian Family with One-Tonne Bomb
An investigation by The New York Times has concluded that the United States used a 2,000-pound bomb to strike a family home on Qeshm Island, Iran, in an attack on Thursday evening. The strike killed a husband, his wife, and their two-year-old son. Based on analysis of satellite imagery, video, photographs, and munitions fragments, the newspaper determined the weapon used was a US-made Mark-84 bomb fitted with a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kit. This conclusion was supported by Trevor Ball, a former US Army explosive ordnance disposal technician and analyst at Armament Research Services, and Frederic Gras, a French munitions consultant, both of whom reviewed the available evidence.
The strike hit the Chah-Tangu area of Qeshm City, a densely populated residential district overlooking the Strait of Hormuz. The Times located the strike site using resident video footage and satellite imagery, finding that the attack left a crater at least 30 feet in diameter and destroyed several surrounding buildings. Iranian authorities identified the victims as Zahra Jafari, her husband Qeysar Jafari, a taxi driver, and their two-year-old son Sina. Two surviving children, Mohammad Reza and Mehdi, were pulled from the rubble and are in stable condition in hospital.
The investigation found that the strike destroyed homes, damaged vehicles more than 200 feet from the point of impact, and displaced around 20 nearby families. After examining satellite imagery and available footage, the newspaper stated it found no indication of military infrastructure near the family home, nor any reports of military casualties that would explain the target selection. Photographs published by Iranian media showed fragments identified by weapons experts as components of the JDAM guidance kit. Gras also concluded that the bomb detonated below ground level, with the sandy soil absorbing some of the blast while channelling much of its force downwards.
The strike was part of a broader US operation in southern Iran, which Washington said was launched in retaliation for an earlier Iranian attack on a military base housing American troops in Jordan. The investigation also found that two warehouses outside Qeshm City were destroyed in the same wave of strikes. US Central Command acknowledged reports of civilian casualties but declined to disclose the intended target, the type of munition used, or the precautionary measures taken before the strike. “We are aware of the reports and are reviewing them,” a CENTCOM spokesperson told the newspaper, adding that “the US military does not target civilians.”
The investigation’s findings raise questions about both the purpose of the strike and the choice of weapon in a densely populated civilian area. The newspaper noted that international humanitarian law requires an attacking party to weigh the anticipated military advantage against the potential harm to civilians, and to take all feasible precautions to minimise civilian casualties. Tom Dannenbaum, a professor of international law at Stanford University, told the Times that using a 2,000-pound bomb in such an environment is “very difficult to reconcile” with those obligations.