The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has attacked “terrorist” targets in Syria and Iraq, according to state media. A “series of ballistic missiles” were fired at meeting places of commanders of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist militia in Syria, the elite paramilitary unit said yesterday on its Sepah News website.
State news agency IRNA reported that the Revolutionary Guard destroyed an “espionage headquarters” of the Israeli Mossad secret service and a “gathering of anti-Iranian terrorist groups” in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.
Iran: “Response” to attacks on funeral service
The attacks in Syria were a “response” to attacks on the funeral service in Kerman and the police headquarters in the city of Rask in mid-December, Sepah said. Authorities in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region said at least four civilians were killed and six others were injured in the Iranian attack on Erbil. The US condemned the “reckless” attacks.
At an event in memory of General Qassem Soleimani, killed by the US military four years ago, two bombs exploded in the city of Kerman in early January. 89 people died and IS claimed responsibility for the attack. In Rask, southeastern Iran, eleven police officers were killed in an attack on a police headquarters in mid-December. The insurgent movement Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice), which Iran has classified as a terrorist organization, claimed responsibility for the attack.