Iran launched several ballistic missiles into eastern Syria in the early hours of Monday, targeting militants linked to a recent deadly terrorist attack on a military parade.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said in a statement that it carried out the strike in retaliation for the gun attack in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province, on Sept. 22 that killed 25 people and wounded 69, IRNA reported.
IRGC members were among the victims of the terrorist assault, during which gunmen disguised as soldiers fired on a viewing stand as military officials watched a ceremony marking the start of the 1980-88 Iraq-imposed war.
Al-Ahvaziya, which is an Iranian ethnic Arab separatist group, and the self-styled Islamic State terrorists both claimed the attack, the bloodiest to strike the country in recent years.
However, neither group has presented any evidence to back up their claim.
> US-Backed Terrorists
The IRGC said intelligence verification helped them identify the center of the perpetrators of the attack, who are "supported and guided" by the United States in line with its own interests and those of Israel and reactionary regimes in the region.
Following the Ahvaz incident, Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said the US-backed militants responsible for the assault were paid by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and vowed that Iran would "severely punish" those behind the violence.
The IRGC statement said six medium-range surface-to-surface missiles were fired at 2 a.m. local time into east of the Euphrates River from western Iran.
The ballistic missiles used in the attack flew 570 km to hit the targets and seven drones were used to bomb the areas of militants' concentration, the IRGC said.
It added that a number of the terrorists' leaders were killed during the operation and their supplies and infrastructure were destroyed.
> Iron Fist
"The security of the Iranian nation is the redline of the armed forces, and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps has spared no efforts to safeguard the country and provide peace and security for people," the IRGC said.
The statement declared that its "iron fist" will deliver a decisive and crushing response to any wickedness and mischief of the enemies.
This is the third time in the recent past that Iran has fired its ballistic missiles in revenge for terrorist attacks on its soil.
Last year, it launched ballistic missiles into Syria over deadly attacks in Tehran targeting the parliament building and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic. Terrorists affiliated with IS claimed responsibility for the bloodshed. The twin attacks left 18 people dead and dozens wounded.
In September, Iran fired missiles into Iraq targeting a base of an Iranian Kurdish militant group in response to past deadly assaults on security forces in Iran's Kurdestan Province.
