October 05, 2018
The Pasdaran retaliated October 1 for the attack on an Ahvaz military parade by firing six missiles at an area where the Islamic State troops remain holed up in Syria.
State broadcasting said the missiles “killed and wounded” some of the militants in the town of Hajin. US-supported Kurdish units started an offensive three weeks earlier aimed at clearing out the IS troops from the town.
The US military confirmed that missiles had been fired from Iran. It said it was still assessing what damage was done.
The Iraqi Kurdish news agency Rudaw said two of the Qiam-1 missiles failed shortly after launch and crashed into farmland near Kermanshah, the launch site, while the others, Zolfaqar missiles, traveled about 570 kilometers (350 miles) toward their targets in Syria.
A number of analysts saw the retaliation as more of a propaganda effort to portray the Iranian military as strong and capable than a serious military action. Rather pointedly, there was no attack on US forces, although the Islamic Republic has portrayed the United States as being the main force behind the attack in Ahvaz.
Iranian news outlets said seven Iranian drones bombed the Hajin area after the missiles struck.
Iran said one of the missiles bore the slogans “Death to America,” “Death to the Clan of Saud” and “Death to Israel”—but said nothing about the Islamic State.