Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired missiles into eastern Syria on Monday, targeting militants it blames for the deadly attack on a military parade in Ahvaz.
The launch was the second missile attack on Syria in over a year.
Iranian media said the attacks "killed and wounded" militants in a "terrorist headquarters", without elaborating further.
"The headquarters of those responsible for the terrorist crime in Ahvaz was attacked a few minutes ago east of the Euphrates by several ballistic missiles fired by the aerospace branch of the Guardians of the Revolution," the IRGC said on their website.
State television and the state-run Irna news agency said the missile launches came after the Ahvaz attack, which killed 24 people and wounded more than 60.
Television footage showed a reporter standing by as one of the missiles was launched, identifying the area as being in Iran's western province of Kermanshah. A state TV-aired graphic suggested the missiles flew over central Iraq near the city of Tikrit before landing near the city of Abu Kamal, in the far south-east of Syria.
Abu Kamal is held by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad. However, the city has been targeted by ISIS militants, who have lost almost all their former territory in Syria and Iraq.
One missile on state television bore the slogans "Death to America, Death to Israel, Death to Al Saud," referring to Saudi Arabia's ruling family. The missile also bore in Arabic the phrase "kill the friends of Satan", referring to a verse in the Quran on fighting infidels.
"This is the roaring of missiles belonging to the Revolutionary Guard of the Islamic Revolution," the TV reporter said, as the missiles launched behind him.
"In a few minutes, the world of arrogance – especially America, the Zionist regime and the Al Saud – will hear the sound of Iran's repeated blows."
The semi-official Fars news agency, close to the IRGC, said the the six missiles used were Zolfaghar and Qiam variants, which have ranges of 750 and 800 kilometres. The distance travelled would be up to 570km.
Iran also launched drone attacks on the site, state TV reported.
The attack adds to confusion over who carried out an assault on a military parade in Ahvaz on September 22. Iran initially blamed Arab separatists for the attack, in which gunmen disguised as soldiers opened fire on the crowd and the officials watching the parade in the south-western city. Arab separatists also immediately claimed the attack and offered details about one of the attackers, that turned out to be true.
ISIS also claimed responsibility for the assault, but initially made factually incorrect claims about it. Later, the group released footage of several men that Iran ultimately identified as attackers, although in the footage they did not pledge allegiance to the extremist group.
In announcing the attack, Iranian state media said the missiles targeted both "takfiri" militants – a term it often applies to ISIS – and Ahvazi separatists. The separatists have not been known to work with ISIS in the past.
Last Monday, the IRGC's acting commander Gen Hossein Salami vowed revenge against the perpetrators and what he called the "triangle" of Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United States.
This is the third time in the past couple of years that Iran has fired ballistic missiles in anger.
Last year, Iran fired ballistic missiles into Syria over a bloody ISIS attack on Tehran that targeted parliament and the shrine of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. In September, Iran fired missiles into Iraq, targeting the base of an Iranian Kurdish separatist group. The separatists say that strike killed at 11 people and wounded 50.
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Read more:
Iran attack: a tangled web of claims and blame
US to withdraw missile-defence systems from the Middle East
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Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
The drill
Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.
Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”
Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”
Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.”
Afghanistan Premier League - at a glance
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Fixtures:
Tue, Oct 16, 8pm: Kandahar Knights v Kabul Zwanan; Wed, Oct 17, 4pm: Balkh Legends v Nangarhar Leopards; 8pm: Kandahar Knights v Paktia Panthers; Thu, Oct 18, 4pm: Balkh Legends v Kandahar Knights; 8pm: Kabul Zwanan v Paktia Panthers; Fri, Oct 19, 8pm: First semi-final; Sat, Oct 20, 8pm: Second semi-final; Sun, Oct 21, 8pm: final
Table:
1. Balkh Legends 6 5 1 10
2. Paktia Panthers 6 4 2 8
3. Kabul Zwanan 6 3 3 6
4. Nagarhar Leopards 7 2 5 4
5. Kandahar Knights 5 1 4 2
The specs
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cyl turbo and dual electric motors
Power: 300hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 520Nm at 1,500-3,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.0L/100km
Price: from Dh199,900
On sale: now
Closing the loophole on sugary drinks
As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.
The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed:
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 2
Keita 5', Firmino 26'
Porto 0
Sukuk
An Islamic bond structured in a way to generate returns without violating Sharia strictures on prohibition of interest.
