IRAN FIRES MISSILES AT SYRIA MILITANTS
Iran says US-backed Gulf Arab states attacked military parade that killed 25
IRAN fired missiles yesterday at militants in Syria it blamed for an attack in Iran on Sept 22, the Revolutionary Guards said, in what it called a sign of Teheran’s readiness to punish enemies’ “wickedness.”
Teheran accused United States-backed Gulf Arab states of carrying out the Sept 22 shooting on a military parade that killed 25 people, nearly half of them from Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.
Yesterday’s strike targeted the bases of “t akf i r i terrorists” backed by the US and regional powers in eastern Syria, the Guards said on Sepah News, its official news site. It killed a number of militant leaders and destroyed their supplies and infrastructure, it said.
Iranian officials often use the word “takfiri” to describe Sunni Muslim hardliners. Iran is predominantly Shia Muslim.
“Death to the family of Saud,” “Death to America”, and “Death to Israel” were written on one missile shown on the Fars News site.
The strike targeted the last pocket of territory in southeastern Syria held by Islamic State, said an official in the Iran-backed regional alliance supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
It is an area where the USbacked Syrian Democratic Forces launched a new offensive last month against IS.
The coalition confirmed Iranian forces had conducted “no notice strikes last night”.