Iran Fires Mid-Range Missiles at Daesh Bases in Eastern Syria

TEHRAN: Iran Sunday fired a barrage of ground-to-ground mid-range missiles from its military bases in West of the country hitting a terrorist held city in eastern Syria.

The unprecedented missile strikes from Iran hit bases of Daesh terror group which it  holds responsible for attacks in Tehran earlier this month.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) fired six medium-range missiles which pounded Daesh command headquarters as well as arms and ammunition centers at Syria's Deir ez-Zour region Sunday night, IRGC spokesman Ramezan Sharif said on Monday. 

The attack, he said, was "only a fraction of Iran's punitive power against terrorists and other enemies." 

Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC's Aerospace Force, said the missiles were fired from the Iranian provinces of Kermanshah and Kurdistan and flew over Iraq before landing in Syria.

The missile strikes are the first reported ground-to-ground attack from Iran into Syria since the Arab country descended into a civil war in 2011.

Dier Ez-Zour is roughly 600 kilometres from the Iranian border.

The attack came in retaliation for the June 7 twin terrorist attacks in Tehran, the IRGC said in a statement.

"Our enemies must know that Tehran is not London and Paris. This was a small job and if they put another foot wrong, more deadly blows will come down on their heads," Hajizadeh said. 

The June 7 attacks, 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 attacks left 18 people dead.

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

Today's strike could also be part of an emerging offensive by Syrian army and allies, to take Deir Ez-Zour once and for all.

Strategically located Deir Ez-Zour, if liberated, will provide a reliable land-route that can link Iran, through Iraq with western Syria. The city also has robust energy reserves and sits on the banks of the strategic Euphrates River. 

Analysts say the biggest part of this story is not the tactical outcome Iran was seeking by launching these weapons at a terrorist base or bases, but by the wider implications of Iran actually using their ballistic missiles operationally. 

Expert examinations of the footage broadcast on state television of the attack identified at least one of the projectiles as the Zolfaqar missile. 

Zolfaqar is a solid-fueled medium-range ballistic missile (SRBM) that can reach 700 to 750 kilometers and is accurate within 5 to 10 meters. It is Iran's latest variant of the Fateh-110 missile series -- a family of solid-fueled SRBMs that Tehran has refined since the 1990s.

This is the first time Iran has used such a capability since 1988, during the war with Saddam Hussein led Iraq and shows maturing of its ballistic missile program. 

The rare blitz is also seen conveying far-reaching messages for other players in the Syria conflict. 

It came on the same day the US military admitted to have shot down a Syrian jet over Raqqah. Last month, US aircraft bombed a convoy of Syrian tanks after they advanced in an area near the Iraqi and Jordanian border in the wake of Daesh retreats. 

Iran meanwhile warned the missile strikes were just "a warning" to deter any further action by the terrorists, adding the Daesh and its supporters -- in the region and anywhere else -- "would be engulfed by [IRGC's] revolutionary wrath and flames of the fire of its revenge in case they repeat any such devilish and dirty move in future."

A group of terrorists opened fire at the guards protecting the Iranian Parliament in Tehran on June 7, blasting their way into the parliament's administrative building while shooting at the guards and civilians. A similar attack took place at the shrine of the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, simultaneously with the parliament attack. 

The IRGC had vowed revenge for the attacks and accused Saudi Arabia of supporting Daesh in the operation.