[ad_1]
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iran's revolutionary guards on Monday morning launched six ballistic missiles and drone bombers heading for eastern Syria, targeting militants accused of attacking a military parade last month. unravels.
The missiles were large enough to strike US bases and military targets in both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Iran's supreme leader has called the two Arab nations, accusing them of being behind the September 22 attack on the parade in the Iranian city of Ahvaz, which Riyadh and Abu Dhabi denied.
Monday's strike was Iran's second missile attack in a month, and it took place as tensions mounted before the renewal of US sanctions on the Tehran oil industry that would come into effect in early November.
"It's the roar of missiles belonging to the Revolutionary Guards of the Islamic Revolution," said a state television reporter while the missiles launched behind him. "In a few minutes, the world of arrogance – especially America, the (Israeli) Zionist regime and Al Saud – will hear the sound of repeated blows from Iran." Al Saud is a reference to the royal family of Saudi Arabia.
Iran's state television and the official IRNA news agency said the missiles had "killed and injured" militants in Syria, without giving further details. Missiles, launched from the west of Iran, flew over Iraq and landed near the city of Boukamal, in the extreme south-east of Syria, they reported. .
"The terrorists used bullets in Ahvaz," said General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the Guard's aerospace division, at the semi-official Tasnim news agency. "We responded with missiles."
The Guard, a paramilitary group reporting directly to the supreme leader, said he followed the missiles with the help of bombing directed by seven remote-controlled drones, a first for Iran. State television broadcast footage of a drone dropping what appeared to be unguided ammunition.
Boukamal is being held by Syrian government forces, but ISIS still maintains a presence in the region, although it has been driven out of virtually all the territory it previously occupied in Syria and Iraq. .
Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told The Associated Press that Iranian missiles had struck the town of Hajin, north of Boukamal.
Strong explosions rocked the area Monday morning, reverberating east of the Euphrates, he said. Kurdish fighters allied with the United States fought for weeks against IS in and around Hajin.
The US Army Central Command acknowledged that Iranian forces had conducted "unannounced strikes" in the area.
"The coalition is still assessing if any damage has occurred and none of its forces were in danger," said US Army Colonel Sean Ryan.
The IS militants did not immediately recognize the attack.
The launch of the missile further adds to the confusion over the assault on a military parade that left at least 24 dead and more than 60 wounded.
Iran first blamed the Arab separatists for the attack in which armed men disguised as soldiers opened fire on the crowd and officials watching the parade from an observation deck. Arab separatists, who have long complained of discrimination in predominantly Persian Iran, have claimed responsibility for the attack and provided specific details about one of the attackers.
The Islamic State group also claimed responsibility for the Ahvaz assault, but initially made inaccurate factual statements about it. Later, the IS released images of several men that Iran has finally identified as assailants, although these men are not known to have sworn allegiance to the extremist group.
In announcing the launch, the Iranian media said the missiles targeted both "takfiri" militants – a term often used by Islamic State groups – and Ahvazi separatists. Separatists are not known to work with IS in the past.
Mohsen Rezaei, who previously led the Guard, praised the missile strike on Twitter, adding that "the main punishment is in progress," suggesting that other attacks could be imminent.
One of the missiles shown on Iranian state television carried the following slogans: "Death to America, Death to Israel, Death to Al Saud".
The semi-official Fars news agency, presumed close to the Guard, identified the six missiles used as variants of Zolfaghar and Qiam, with respective ranges of 750 kilometers (465 miles) and 800 kilometers (500 miles). These missiles can reach targets in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, as well as US bases.
Regional tensions have increased since President Donald Trump withdrew America from the nuclear deal struck between Iran and the world powers in May. The United Nations said that Iran still respected the terms of the agreement, in which it limited uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
The already weak economy of Iran has suffered since the American withdrawal, its currency now trading at 170,000 rials for one US dollar. In May, the rate rose to about 62,000. A year ago, it was 39,000.
This is the third time in about a year that Iran has fired ballistic missiles beyond its borders.
Last year, Iran launched ballistic missiles on Syria after a bloody attack by the Islamic State against Tehran, targeting parliament and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. In September, Iran launched missiles on Iraq aimed at a base of an Iranian Kurdish separatist group. The separatists say the strike killed at least 15 people and injured more than 50 people.
"Iranian missiles are a message for more than one side," said Talal Atrissi, researcher in regional affairs at Al Maaref University in Beirut. "It is a message that when Iran threatens, it executes its threats, and that is important for Iran.The second message is that the sanctions will not prevent Iran from defending itself."
___
Gambrell brought back from Dubai, UAE. Associated Press reporters Bassem Mroue and Fadi Tawil in Beirut contributed.
