Iran said on Sunday the two-stage missiles it fired at ISIS targets in Syria broke apart over the Iraqi desert as planned, mocking reports that some of the projectiles fell short. State TV’s website quoted the airspace division chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Gen Amir Ali Hajizadeh as saying “we had coordinated the fall of the engines in the desert in Iraq” in advance.
“The missiles we used were two-stage, it means that the engine separates from the warhead,” said Hajizadeh. Hajizadeh said US drones hovered over the targets after shortly the Iranian missiles hit them. He said the US may have been informed beforehand about the attack, as they had informed the Russian military, which may have relayed the information to the Americans. The Guard said it fired six such missiles today at IS targets in the city of Deir el-Zour, more than 600 kilometres away.
He mocked media reports citing Israeli sources who said some of the missiles fell short of their targets, suggesting that the Israelis were unable to identify two-stage missiles, which are designed to split apart mid-flight.