Although Iran's ballistic missiles hit ISIS in Syria on Sunday, the audience for the strike explicitly included the USA and Saudi Arabia and, implicitly, Israel.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it had fired six missiles from western Iran into northeastern Syria yesterday, targeting "terror bases".
The U.S. said it had downed the Syrian jet a day earlier after it dropped bombs near the U.S. -backed Syrian Democratic Forces conducting operations against the Islamic State group, adding that was something it would not tolerate.
Russia, a key backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad, has been providing an air cover to the government's offensive on the Islamic State group since 2015.
In response, the IRGC on Sunday night fired six high-precision missiles at positions of Daesh in Syria's Deir ez-Zor. The type of missiles that Iran is thought to has used has a range of around 400 miles - far enough to put every Gulf state within its sights.
Saudi Arabia has far more sophisticated firepower than ISIS or the MEK to hit back at Iran from a long distance; and the United States and Israel each have even greater firepower than the Saudis to rain down on Iran if attacked by missiles.
The United States is inching closer to involvement in the Syrian civil war after USA forces shot down a Syrian fighter jet on Sunday.
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Since Trump took office, his administration has put new economic sanctions on those allegedly involved with Iran's missile program as the Senate has voted for applying new sanctions on Iran.
Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC aerospace unit, hailed the missile raids, saying any more evil act against Iran will result in "costly consequences".
The advances also opened the way for cooperation among Syrian, Iranian-backed fighters and the Iraq Popular Mobilization Units for any moves against Deir el-Zour. Israeli security officials said Monday they were studying the missile strike to see what they could learn about its accuracy and capabilities.
The Shi'ite militias, known as Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) helped Baghdad defend the country against the Islamic State militant group when Iraqi military and police divisions deserted en masse in 2014.
The aim is "to ensure that they can't easily be excluded, and that they remain on track to ultimately retake the entirety of the country", Heller said. "The Saudis and Americans are especially receivers of this message", he said. But analysts say he has managed relations with Iraq's Sunni minority better than his predecessor, Nuri al-Maliki, and also improved Baghdad's ties with Saudi Arabia.
Israel's military Chief of Staff is disputing Iranian claims of successfully launching missiles at militants in Syria.
The U.S. military meanwhile confirmed Tuesday that top IS cleric Turki al-Binali was killed in a coalition airstrike on May 31, in Mayadeen, Syria.
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