Iran says missile strike targeting ISIS was warning to US, Saudis

"Daesh is retreating from Iraq and that is thanks to the government's trust in these young devoted forces", Khamenei said.

The U.S. military's Central Command said the drone shot down Tuesday was a Shaheed 129 and appeared to have been operated by "pro-regime" forces, a term which U.S. officials previously have used to describe Hezbollah elements.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that as of Monday, all coalition jets and drones flying west of the Euphrates River will be tracked as potential targets.

The missile strike comes at a time when Congress is in the midst of adopting new sanctions against Iran for its continued ballistic missile program, its abuse of human rights, and its unrelenting support and promotion of global terrorism.

Israel and Iran are bitter enemies. One missile managed to strike within a few hundred meters of its target, but still missed. "I don't think there's any real sense of what to do, beyond defending USA troops and partner forces".

Turkey and the Kurdish fighters have come to blows on a few occasions in recent months, leading US forces to establish a buffer between them.

It appeared to be Iran's first missile attack overseas in over 15 years and its first in the Syrian conflict, in which it has provided crucial support to Assad.

The Guards have played a major role in training Shia fighters in Iraq that are a significant force in the fightback against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, and have also trained thousands of "volunteers" to battle alongside President Bashar al-Assad's forces in Syria. In the past week, Russian Federation confirmed that it would treat US-led coalition aircraft flying west of the Euphrates River in Syria as "potential targets", while Iran fired missiles from inside its territory against ISIS targets in eastern Syria.

"The coalition's mission is to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria", the military reiterated in its statement after Sunday's jet downing.

"The Saudis and Americans are especially receivers of this message", Gen. Ramazan Sharif of the Revolutionary Guard told Iranian state TV in an interview.

An article in the Jerusalem Post said it could be argued that Iran's use of the missiles "makes it more likely that it would use them again". This finds echo in the words of the influential Secretary of Iran's Expediency Council Mohsen Rezayee, who is also a former IRGC commander: "After four years in office, Tillerson will come to understand Iran".

But what is America doing attacking first Assad's air base near Homs, then the regime's allies near Al-Tanf and now one of Assad's fighter jets?

While the United States military's shootdown of a Syrian jet on Sunday was a rarity in modern warfare, the first in 18 years, it was not an isolated incident.

There is no obstacle on the way of development and deepening of Tehran-Baghdad relations, said Rouhani voicing Tehran's willingness to establish stronger ties in all fields with Baghdad; "undoubtedly, cementing and deepening ties between the two countries is what both Iranian and Iraqi nations want to serve common interests".

While Iran said its forces deserve credit for gains made against IS, the United States and its anti-IS coalition of Western forces also have claimed credit for helping Iraqi ground forces recapture Ramadi and other cities liberated from IS in the past two years, as well as for the recent gains in Mosul.