GENEVA, October 1, 2018 (News Wires) - Iran has fired missiles at militants in Syria it blamed for an attack in southwestern Iran on Sept. 22, the Revolutionary Guards said on Monday, in what it called a sign of Tehran's readiness to punish its enemies' "wickedness". The strike took place at 2am local time and targeted the bases of "takfiri terrorists" backed by America and regional powers in eastern Syria, the Guards said in a statement on Sepah News, the official news site of the powerful military force. Fars News posted video footage of several missiles streaking into a dark sky during the attack. Iranian officials often use the word "takfiri" to describe Sunni Muslim hardliners.. The ballistic missiles used in the attack flew 570 km (354 miles) to hit the targets, the Guards 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 Guards said in the statement. The Ahvaz National Resistance, an Iranian ethnic Arab separatist movement, and the Islamic State have both claimed responsibility for the attack on a military parade in which 25 people were killed. Neither group has presented conclusive evidence to back up their claim. The Revolutionary Guards, the most powerful military force in the Islamic Republic, said in the statement six missiles were fired into Syria from western Iran. Seven drones were also used to bomb militant targets during the attack, which killed a number of militant leaders and destroyed supplies and infrastructure used by the group, the Guards said.
