US Used Cluster Missiles Against Iranian Civilians, Baghaei Says

TEHRAN: Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has accused the United States of carrying out a deadly missile attack on civilians in the southern Iranian city of Lamard, saying the effects of the March 1 strike remain visible across the city and among families who lost loved ones.

Speaking during a visit to Lamard on Sunday, Baghaei said the city still bore what he described as extensive evidence of an American war crime.

According to the Iranian spokesman, the attack was carried out using four Lockheed Martin missiles, each containing approximately 180,000 fragmentation elements. He said the weapons were used in combat over Iranian territory for the first time.

Baghaei said 20 residents of Lamard and one Afghan national were martyred in the attack.

During his visit, the spokesman paid tribute at their graves in the Garden of Lamard Martyrs. He later joined local residents in the city’s central square to remember the victims.

Baghaei said the names of those martyred had become part of what he described as Iran’s enduring national memory and its struggle for independence and dignity.

He also said approximately 180 other residents were wounded by missile fragments.

According to Baghaei, several children and their families continue to suffer serious physical consequences six months after the attack.

He said tungsten fragments from US Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM) remained lodged in the bodies of some children and that some victims had been left with permanent disabilities and severe pain.

The claims about the type of missile and the composition of the fragments were made by Baghaei and have not been independently verified.

Baghaei described the strike as a deliberate attack on civilians and said Iran would compile evidence for presentation before international bodies.

He said Iranian authorities would collect witness testimonies, medical records and physical evidence to document the consequences of the attack and pursue accountability against those responsible.

Baghaei stressed that recording the victims’ experiences was necessary to preserve evidence and prevent what he described as attempts to distort or erase the events.

He said every death should be documented, every witness heard and every injury recorded.

The Iranian spokesman argued that attacks on civilian population centres should face international scrutiny regardless of the broader military conflict.

He said the suffering of Lamard’s residents would remain part of Iran’s collective memory and maintained that the consequences of the strike should be addressed through legal and international mechanisms.

Baghaei’s remarks reflect Tehran’s broader efforts to document civilian casualties and damage caused by US military operations and present the evidence in international forums.

The United States has not, in the material provided, issued an immediate response to Baghaei’s allegations concerning the Lamard attack.