TEHRAN – Late on Sunday Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps fired six missiles into eastern Syria, targeting Islamic State strongholds in retaliation for the recent ISIS-claimed terrorist attacks in Tehran.

The national TV showed footages of missile attacks launched from western Iran.

“In the operation, code-named Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Destiny), the Guards launched six medium-range ballistic missiles at various targets in ranges between 650km to 700km,” Tasnim news agency quoted IRGC spokesman Ramazan Sharif as saying on Monday. 

Targeting “headquarters and gathering centers of Takfiri terrorists” in the Deir al Zour region of eastern Syria, the missiles passed through the Iraqi airspace. 

“The missiles were launched in coordination with Syria,” the IRGC official said. 

The IRGC launched the missiles from western provinces of Kermanshah and Kurdistan, home to Sunni Kurdish populations. 

“The missile launches from the two Sunni-majority provinces at headquarters of Daesh terrorists carry the massage of unity of all Iranians in the face of terrorists,” Sharif added. 

The missiles successfully hit the targets, Sharif said.  

The missile operation “is just a very small part of the capability of Iran’s punitive force against the terrorists and enemies,” Sharif further noted. 

Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC aerospace unit, hailed the missile raids, saying any more evil act against Iran will result in “costly consequences”. 

“Our enemies should know that Tehran is not London or Paris,” Hajizadeh stated, a reference to the European capitals coming under numerous terrorist attacks over the past years. 

Iran vowed quick revenge after ISIS suicide bombers and gunmen stormed the parliament and the mausoleum of Imam Khomeini on June 7, killing 18 and injuring at least 56.   

In a statement released after the attacks, the IRGC vowed avenge, saying, “The spilling of any pure blood will not go unanswered.” 

Also, Major General Mohammad Baqeri, head of the Iranian armed forces, pledged “unforgettable lessons” to terrorists and their backers after the Tehran assault. 

Former IRGC chief Mohsen Rezaei tweeted, “This was just the beginning of the revenge. Harsher slap is underway”. 

Rezaei also called the missile attacks “the message of Iran’s authority” to “the supporters of terrorism.” 

Earlier, Iran had implicitly suggested that the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, its chief regional foe, had insinuated the terrorist attacks in Tehran. 

The operation comes just days after the U.S. Senate passed the Countering Iran's Destabilizing Activities Act by an overwhelming margin, a new sanctions legislation which targets Iran’s ballistic missile program and applies sanctions against the IRGC. 

The attack also sends a clear warning signal to Saudi Arabia which has been trying for some time to test Iran’s patience. 

“Saudi Arabia and other countries supporting terrorism should know that the Islamic Republic jokes with no one,” senior MP Alaedin Boroujerdi said on Monday. 

“We have entered a new phase of fighting terrorists in the region,” added Boroujerdi, chairman of the parliamentary national security and foreign policy committee. 

Mohammadreza Aref, the leader of the pro-reform Hope faction, praised the missile attacks on ISIS strongholds, saying it was a “response to ill-wishers of the Islamic Iran”.

PA/PA