Iran’s Tasnim News Agency has reported that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have launched a ground-to-ground ballistic missile attack on terrorist targets in the Eastern Syrian Governorate of Deir ez-Zor. The missiles were reportedly launched from the western Iranian provinces of Kermanshah and Kurdistan.

Deir ez-Zor is at this point in time, the most prominent hot-spot of ISIS in Syria, in many ways even more than Raqqa. Recent reports have surfaced of both the US and its Kurdish dominated SFD allies allowing ISIS leaders out of Raqqa. In most cases they are fleeing to Deir ez-Zor.

With the help of Russian airstrikes, the Syrian Arab Army has been making gains within Deir ez-Zor Governorate and are rapidly advancing on Deir ez-Zor city.

Iran’s strike is of course in full compliance with international law as Iran forms part of Syria’s anti-terrorist coalition whose largest member is Russia. </s> IRAN FIRES MISSILES AT ISLAMIC STATE TARGETS IN SYRIA: The missiles were launched in western Iran. Their flight path traversed northern Iraq. According to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the missiles struck targets “in the Deir Ezzor region in Eastern Syria.” The missiles were “retaliation” for the Islamic State terror attacks in Tehran (June 7). </s> BEIRUT (Reuters) - Iran fired missiles on Sunday into eastern Syria, aiming at the bases of militant groups it holds responsible for attacks in Tehran which left 18 dead last week, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported.

A still image taken from a footage shot on June 18, 2017 and broadcasted on Iranian Television IRINN, purports to show missiles being fired from Iran into eastern Syria. IRINN/ via Reuters TV ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT OF THIS VIDEO. NO ACCESS IRAN. NO ACCESS BBC PERSIAN, NO ACCESS MANOTO, NO ACCESS VOA PERSIAN DIGITAL, NO ACCESS VOA PERSIAN. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES IRAN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN IRAN. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Iranian Revolutionary Guards launched the mid-range ground-to-ground missiles from western Iran into the Deir al Zour region of eastern Syria, killing a “large number” of terrorists and destroying their equipment and weapons, it said.

The missiles targeted the “headquarters and gathering centers of Takfiri terrorists supporting and building car bombs”, it said.

Reuters could not independently verify the report.

Military leaders and officials in Iran, a predominantly Shi’ite country, often refer to Sunni Muslim radicals as Takfiris.

The Revolutionary Guards are fighting in Syria against militant groups who oppose President Bashar al-Assad.

The attack last week, which included shootings and at least one suicide bombing, was on Iran’s parliament and the shrine of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic.

“The spilling of any pure blood will not go unanswered,” the Revolutionary Guards said in the statement quoted by Tasnim.

Islamic State issued a statement claiming responsibility for the Tehran attack.

Senior Iranian officials, however, have pointed a finger at Saudi Arabia, Iran’s Sunni regional rival. </s> It's a huge development in an extremely volatile environment: overnight Sunday Iran launched multiple ballistic missiles toward Syria against targets east of the Euphrates river.

Footage released through official state channels show missiles launched by Iran from its Kermanshah region in western Iran towards Syria, targeting ISIS positions east of the Euphrates in revenge for the September 22 attack on a military parade in Ahvaz, which killed 25 and injured scores more.

However, the United States will no doubt interpret the action as highly provocative as the US Army maintains bases precisely in the broad region targeted east of the Euphrates in Syria.

In the early morning hours of Monday (local time) Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) published an official statement saying that its Aerospace Division targeted the "headquarters of the terrorists" east of the Euphrates in Syria.

A photo set showing a series of near simultaneous surface-to-surface launches was published alongside the statement.

Videos of the launch were uploaded and circulated widely in Middle East social media. Early unconfirmed reports and video suggest that a total of eight missiles were fired; however, at least two appear to have crashed shortly after launch.

"The headquarters of those responsible for the terrorist crime in Ahvaz was attacked a few minutes ago east of the Euphrates by several ballistic missiles fired by the aerospace branch of the Guardians of the Revolution," the IRGC said on their official Sepah website.

The launch comes soon after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called the United States a “sponsor” of those that funded the terrorist attack on Avhaz in southwest Iran — one of the deadliest in Iran's recent history. The IRGC also vowed “a crushing and devastating response" during last Friday prayers in Tehran.

A second video of the launch has been released by the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) official channels:

Washington has denied any involvement in the Avhaz attack, which was immediately claimed by both a local Avhaz separatist group and official ISIS media channels.

But Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in the aftermath that “US masters” and regional terrorist forces should be held accountable for the bloodshed.

Iran's top cleric and supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei also pointed the finger at the West, condemning what he labelled "plots hatched by US stooges in the region."

Hours after the highly provocative launch into Syria, it is unclear whether any among the missiles impacted inside Syria, and Syrian state sources have yet to issue a report or confirmation of the strike.

Iran's official English language PressTV claimed the following, however, citing the IRGC:

While there's yet to be any confirmation of these claims of casualties on the ground, video quickly surfaced purporting to show two of the locations where missiles crashed early after the launch.

At least one Iranian state TV report suggested the missiles flew over central Iraq near the city of Tikrit and landed in the vicinity of Abu Kamal, in southeast Syria.

Iranian state news sources promoted images and graphics purporting to show the flight path throughout the morning in a clear signal to regional enemies Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as the United States and Israel. </s> The Iranian Revolutionary Guards has fired ground-to-ground missiles from western Iran into eastern Syria, aiming at the bases of militant groups Iran holds responsible for attacks in Tehran which left 18 dead last week, the Tasnim news agency reported.

>> UPDATE: Iran's Missile Attack on Syria Failed: 5 Missed, 3 Landed in Iraq

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This was the first operational use of mid-range missiles by Iran since the war with Iraq, which ended in 1988.

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The Iranian video is currently under examination by Israel, in attempt to understand the details of the incident. It remains unknown if the missiles struck their targets and what effect the strikes could have on the region.

skip - Video footage purports to show impact of Iranian missile strike in Syria.

Video footage purports to show impact of Iranian missile strike in Syria.

"The spilling of any pure blood will not go unanswered," the Revolutionary Guards said in a statement, according to Tasnim.

The Guard's website, as well as semi-official news agencies, reported the strikes Sunday on Deir el-Zour, Syria. The Guard's website said it launched surface-to-surface medium-range missiles targeting the area.

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It did not immediately offer other specifics, other than to say the missiles were launched from Iran.

A Guard statement carried on its website said the strike came from its bases in western Iran. It said many "terrorists" were killed and their weapons had been destroyed in the strike.

The paramilitary force warned Islamic State militants and their "regional and international supporters" that similar retaliatory attacks would target them as well if another assault in Iran occurs.

Activists in Syria did not immediately have information about the Iranian-claimed strikes. Deir el-Zour is home to both Islamic State militants and civilians.

Five Islamic State-linked attackers stormed Iran's parliament and a shrine to revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini this month, killing at least 18 people and wounding more than 50.

Meanwhile, the Syrian army said that the U.S.-led coalition shot down one of its planes near the ISIS-stronghold of Raqqa. No other details were given. </s> Iran on Monday launched missile strikes on what it said were Sunni Islamic extremist hideouts in eastern Syria, a move it portrayed as retaliation for a deadly terrorist attack on an Iranian military parade last month.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said that it fired six medium-range missiles into Syria from bases in western Iran at 2 a.m. local time, striking east of the Euphrates River and killing and wounding several militants.

A statement on the Guard’s website described the targets as “takfiri terrorists,” a term it often uses to refer to the Islamic State.

The attack in Ahvaz last month saw several gunmen firing into crowds at a military parade. At least 24 people, including a 4-year-old child, were killed and more than 60 others wounded. Dramatic footage of the ambush showed bloodied victims lying on the ground.

Iran's leaders swore revenge for the assault, which they initially blamed on Arab separatists in the region. For years, the separatists have sought autonomy for the minority Arab population in Iran, which is mainly ethnic Persian. Iran has blamed Saudi Arabia for supporting the militants and encouraging attacks.

Both Ahvaz-based separatists and the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the assault, raising questions about the true identity of the perpetrators.

Iran state television Monday aired footage of what it said were medium-range missiles being fired from the Iranian province of Kermanshah. The Revolutionary Guard said the missiles hit their targets from a distance of roughly 350 miles. Those claims could not immediately be confirmed.

The Islamic State still holds pockets of territory in eastern Syria, where U.S. troops are assisting local forces to battle the militants.

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Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news </s> Iran's Revolutionary Guard launch missiles from an undisclosed location to target militants in eastern Syria early on Monday (AFP photo)

Iran said it fired missiles on Monday at Daesh militants in Syria it blames for an attack on its soil on September 22 and said the action shows the government's readiness to punish the "wickedness" of its enemies.

Tehran has accused US-backed Gulf Arab states of attacking a military parade in south-western Iran and killing 25 people, nearly half of them members of the elite Revolutionary guards.

Monday's strike targeted the bases of "takfiri terrorists" backed by Washington and regional powers in eastern Syria, the Guards said in a statement on Sepah News, their news site. It killed a number of militant leaders and destroyed their supplies and infrastructure, they said.

Iranian officials often use the word “takfiri” to describe Sunni Muslim hardliners. Iran is predominantly Shiite Muslim.

“Death to the family of Saud”, “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” were written on one of the missiles shown on the Fars News site.

The strike targeted the last pocket of territory in south-eastern Syria held by Daesh, said an official in the Iran-backed regional alliance fighting in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

It is an area where the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched a new offensive last month against Daesh.

The US-led coalition confirmed Iranian forces had conducted “no notice strikes last night”.

“At this time, the coalition is still assessing if any damage occurred and no coalition forces were in danger,” said the coalaition’s spokesman, Sean Ryan.

Fars News posted video footage of several missiles streaking into a dark sky during the attack.

The six ballistic missiles used in the attack flew 570km to hit the targets, the Guard said. A map shown on state TV pinpointed Kermanshah in western Iran as the launch site and Albu Kamal in southeast Syria as the target.

The missiles were Iranian-made Zolfaqar and Qiam missiles, Fars News reported.

“Our iron fist is prepared to deliver a decisive and crushing response to any wickedness and mischief of the enemies,” the Guard, the most powerful military force in the Islamic Republic, said.

Seven drones were also used to bomb militant targets during the attack, they said.

The Ahvaz National Resistance, an Iranian ethnic Arab separatist movement, and Daesh have both claimed responsibility for the September 22 attack. Neither group has presented conclusive evidence to back up its claim.

“The terrorists used bullets and we gave them a reply with missiles,” Fars News quoted Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the Guard airspace division, as saying.

“The security of the Iranian people is our red line and we will not be found wanting.”

A senior Revolutionary guard commander said on Monday that Daesh militants in Syria’s Deir Ezzor province had helped coordinate the parade attack.

These Daesh militants were the target of the missile strike, said Major General Mohammad Baqeri, the armed forces chief of staff, according to Fars News.

“The area east of the Euphrates where Daesh is based is under the control of the American military and the Guards’ missiles hit an area that is close to the area under American control,” Baqeri said.

He added, “All of these are a warning for the enemies so they don’t move toward creating insecurity in Iran.”

Iranian military support has been vital to helping Assad through the Syrian war, and Iran-backed forces are deployed in south-eastern Syria on the west bank of the Euphrates River. Iran has dismissed US demands that it leave Syria.

The official in the Iran-backed alliance described Monday’s strike, targeting an area on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, as a “limited message”. “One of the messages, to those it concerns, is that ‘our missiles are one of our powerful cards that are ready to respond whenever we want’,” the official said.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the highest authority in Iran, has said the militants responsible for the September 22 attack were paid by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and that Iran would “severely punish” those behind the violence.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have denied involvement in the attack.

Mohsen Rezaie, a former commander of the guard, suggested in a Twitter message on Monday that more attacks were coming.

“The main punishment is on the way,” Rezaie, who is secretary of the Expediency Council, an unelected arbitration body that resolves disputes between parliament and a clerical vetting body, the Guardian Council, wrote.

Last year, the guard fired missiles at Daesh militants in Syria after the group claimed responsibility for an attack on the parliament in Tehran and the mausoleum of the founder of Iran’s revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, that left at least 18 people dead and dozens wounded. </s> Dear Reader, As you can imagine, more people are reading The Jerusalem Post than ever before. Nevertheless, traditional business models are no longer sustainable and high-quality publications, like ours, are being forced to look for new ways to keep going. Unlike many other news organizations, we have not put up a paywall. We want to keep our journalism open and accessible and be able to keep providing you with news and analyses from the frontlines of Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired six ballistic missiles “east of the Euphrates” in Syria to retaliate for an attack on the IRGC in Ahvaz on September 22. 



The attack shows Iran’s reach throughout the region and that Iran is willing to strike wherever it pleases and knows that air defense systems in Iraq and those by the Coalition in eastern Syria will not interdict it.





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Iranian media announced on Monday morning that the IRGC’s Aerospace Force had fired the missiles in the middle of the night. The missiles flew 570 km, crossing from Kermanshah in Iran over northern Iraq into Syria where Tehran says they struck areas east of the Euphrates near Al-Bukamal. Al-Bukamal is one of the only areas in Syria still held by Islamic State. IRGC members painted “death to America,” “Death to Israel,” and “Death to al-Saud,” a reference to Saudi Arabia, on the missiles.Video released by Iran showed the missiles reaching skyward in the dead of night. The regime scripted the bombardment as it had with the September 8 attack on Kurdish opposition groups in northern Iraq. During that ballistic missile attack the IRGC used seven Fateh 110 missiles and fired them near Tabriz. Kermanshah is 200 km south of that launch location.The launch comes after Iran had blamed Washington and Riyadh for the Ahvaz attack, claiming that they support groups in southwest Iran who oppose the regime. The attack was initially claimed by a local Arab group but later ISIS took responsibility. Iran’s statement on Monday left it unclear who was targeted in Al-Bukamal in Syria by the attack. Tehran fingered “Takfiri terrorists” which likely means ISIS, but could refer to other groups.Iran’s Fars News points out that these missiles represent a new achievement for Tehran, with “new technical features.” The IRGC chose the Zulfiqar and Qiam ballistic missiles to target Syria, which had been used last year in June to target ISIS in Deir Ez Zor. According to some accounts online one or two of the Qiam missiles crashed soon after launch.To fire the missiles over Iraqi airspace, Iran should have coordinated with Baghdad. However, it does not appear that Baghdad warned air traffic of the missile firings because major carriers were traversing Iraqi skies during the launch. The US Coalition operating in Iraq and Syria should also have been notified via Baghdad, but a statement from their spokesman said they received "no notice." The target of the missiles in the eastern Euphrates area would have been close to US forces and their Syrian Democratic Forces partners, which would have posed a threat."At this time, the Coalition is still assessing if any damage occurred and no Coalition forces were in danger," Sean Ryan, US spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, said in a statement.The targeting of ISIS in Syria by Iran is a major escalation, primarily because the missiles overflew Iraq and landed near Coalition forces. Iran is an ally of Syria and Iran has warm relations with Baghdad. This shows that Tehran’s arc of influence stretches across these states and the IRGC does not see these states as having borders but rather being an area the IRGC is free to operate in.The ballistic missile strike comes in the wake of Iran’s claims at the United Nations General Assembly that the US is isolated and that Iran is the responsible player working with the international community. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said the US administration was engaged in “destructive unilateralism” and that the US was a “rogue administration” with a “commitment to destabilizing the international system.”However, the IRGC has exploited instability in the Middle East in order to fire its ballistic missiles over Iraq and into Syria. It received little push-back after targeting Kurdish groups in northern Iraq in early September and it expects to receive no push-back this time. The international community would find it difficult to condemn the missile strike since it was targeting ISIS. But the slogans “death to America,” “death to Israel” and “death to al-Saud” point to a goal that is not just targeting ISIS. That air traffic over Iraq was not warned points to reckless behavior by the IRGC.This is the larger message of the ballistic missile strike. It shows Iran feels it can target Israel, the US or Saudi Arabia when the time comes. It is practicing by using its missiles on ISIS and Kurdish opposition groups.

Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>> </s> Iran's Revolutionary Guard has said it launched ballistic missiles into eastern Syria, targeting fighters it blamed for a recent attack on a military parade in southwestern Iran.

"Our iron fist is prepared to deliver a decisive and crushing response to any wickedness and mischief of the enemies," the Guards said in a statement on Monday.

The attack took place at 2am local time and targeted the bases of "takfiri terrorists" backed by America and regional powers in eastern Syria, the statement said. Iranian officials often use the word "takfiri" to describe Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) fighters.

The powerful military force said at least six missiles were fired into Syria. It added that seven drones were also used to bomb rebel targets during the attack, which killed a number of fighters and destroyed supplies and infrastructure used by the group.

Syrian state media did not immediately acknowledge the missile strike - the second such attack on Syria in more than a year.

Footage aired by the Iranian state television showed one of its reporters standing by as one of the missiles was launched, identifying the area as being in Iran's western province of Kermanshah.

A state TV-aired graphic suggested the missiles flew over central Iraq near the city of Tikrit before landing near the city of Al Bukamal, in the far southeastern region of Syria.

Al Bukamal is held by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but occasionally it has been targeted by fighters from the ISIL, who have lost almost all the territory they once held in Syria and Iraq.

Al Jazeera's Zein Basravi, reporting from Tehran, said Iran is illustrating it has the "ability and the military might to target any threat it sees to itself".

"The missile attacks were followed by bombardment ... signalling their military capabilities in the region," he said.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had said the deadly Iran attack was linked to the United States' "allies in the region".

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have denied involvement in the attack.

The Ahvaz National Resistance, an Iranian ethnic Arab separatist movement, and the ISIL have both claimed responsibility for the September 22 attack in which 29 people were killed. Neither group has presented conclusive evidence to back up their claim.

The attack prompted President Hassan Rouhani to warn of a "crushing response", as those killed included members of the elite Revolutionary Guards and women and children who had come to watch the parade.

Iran initially blamed Arab separatists for the attack in which gunmen disguised as soldiers opened fire on the crowd and officials watching the parade from a viewing platform in the southwestern city.
Iran fires medium range ballistic missiles from western Iran to ISIL targets in Deir ez-Zor Governorate, eastern Syria, in retaliation for the June 7 Tehran attacks.