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Iran's missile strikes in Syria send 'message' to region

According to Iranian officials, Tehran's strikes on Islamic State fighters inside Syria carried a wider message.
An Iranian military truck carries a smart bomb during a parade on the occasion of the country's Army Day, on April 18, 2017, in Tehran. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE        (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

For the first time in its involvement in Syria’s six years of civil war, Iran has launched missiles against Islamic State (IS) targets in Syria.

According to a statement released by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the June 18 missile strikes hit targets in eastern Syria that Iran holds responsible for the recent IS attack in Tehran that killed 18 people and wounded 50. The IRGC statement said that the strikes targeted the terrorist group's gathering centers and bomb-making factories. The missiles were launched from IRGC bases in Iran's western provinces of Kermanshah and Kurdistan.

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