JD Vance Responds to Claims of US Strike on Iranian Wedding

<p>Vice President JD Vance has responded to allegations that a US strike was responsible for the deaths of four individuals, including a child, at a wedding celebration in southern Iran, stating that “sometimes things happen.” The Iranian Red Crescent, which operates independently of Tehran, reported the deaths and is generally regarded as a credible source for casualty figures by international monitors.</p><p>Democrat Congressman Ro Khanna criticized Vance's comments as “gaslighting,” particularly in light of Vance's assertion that the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran, which has lasted for seven months and resulted in the deaths of 18 US service members, is not currently “a war.” Iranian authorities have reported a much higher death toll from US and Israeli strikes, with figures corroborated by various external observers, including US-based monitoring groups.</p><p>During a White House press briefing, Vance expressed skepticism about the Iranian state media's reporting on the conflict, stating, “I will say that the Iranian state media has not been a very good scribe about what’s happened in the conflict thus far, so I’m extremely skeptical of this. What I can say with 100% confidence is that, unlike the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the US never targets civilians in combat. We never will do that. We never have done that, and unfortunately, obviously, sometimes things happen.”</p><p>In other news, former President Donald Trump appointed Adam Telle as the acting army secretary following the departure of Daniel Driscoll amid reports of tensions with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Telle is currently the assistant secretary of the army for civil works.</p><p>The House of Representatives has passed a Republican-backed bill aimed at penalizing universities that participate in boycotts of Israel. Tim Walberg, the Republican chair of the House education committee, stated, “This legislation is about a simple principle: our colleges and universities should not discriminate against Israel.” Thirty-three Democrats voted in favor of the bill, which will now proceed to the Senate for consideration.</p>