Changes

===Iran===

===Iran===

Iran has provided Syria with military fighters in defense of Damascus. As the war spread, the Pentagon confirmed that Iran has bombed ISIS targets in Iraq.<ref>[http://www.janes.com/article/46514/iranian-phantom-jet-strikes-the-islamic-state-in-iraq Iranian Phantom jet strikes the Islamic State in Iraq, Janes.com, November 30, 2014]</ref>

Iran has provided Syria with military fighters in defense of Damascus. Iran's hegemonic drive (on the Alawite-led Baath regime): geopolitically & ideologically.

Two main reasons underlie Tehran's Shiification strategy. Geopolitically, the Syrian civil war provides a unique opportunity for the Islamic Republic to expand its hegemony across the region by cementing its presence in a pivotal Arab state as it believes it has historical rights to parts of it (e.g., Aleppo was once ruled by a Shiite dynasty). Ideologically, the ayatollahs view the Syrian civil war as a continuation of the succession struggle attending the death of Islam's prophet Muhammad between Ali bin Abi Talib—Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law and the last of the four "rightly-guided caliphs" who succeeded the prophet, whom Shiites consider their first imam—and Muawiya bin Abi Sufyan, founder of the Umayyad dynasty in Damascus, who challenged Ali's authority. In this view, the Syrian conflict, which meaningfully takes place in the country where the decisive battle between Ali and Muawiya was waged in 657, is a prelude to the arrival of the Mahdi, the Muslim messianic figure and the Twelfth Imam for Shiites, who will spread worldwide justice at the end of times.<ref>[https://www.meforum.org/63851/tehran-shiification-of-syria Tehran's Shiification of Syria] by Rauf Baker. Middle East Quarterly Winter 2023</ref>}}

In May 2015, Iranian troops, artillery and other heavy weapons have begun fighting in conjunction with Iraq forces in a counteroffensive to take the Beiji oil refinery.<ref>[http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150522/us--united_states-iraq-3f3b258281.html US officials: Iran enters Iraqi fight for key oil refinery, My Way News, May 22, 2015]</ref>

In May 2015, Iranian troops, artillery and other heavy weapons have begun fighting in conjunction with Iraq forces in a counteroffensive to take the Beiji oil refinery.<ref>[http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150522/us--united_states-iraq-3f3b258281.html US officials: Iran enters Iraqi fight for key oil refinery, My Way News, May 22, 2015]</ref>

Iranian fighter jets fly alongside with Russian bombers over the skies of Syria.<ref>[https://www.debka.com/article/25034/First-Iranian-fighter-jets-over-Syria-alongside-Russian-bombers]</ref>

Iranian fighter jets fly alongside with Russian bombers over the skies of Syria.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20151123032658/https://www.debka.com/article/25034/First-Iranian-fighter-jets-over-Syria-alongside-Russian-bombers First Iranian fighter jets over Syria alongside Russian bombers] DEBKAfile Special Report November 22, 2015</ref>

===Jordan===

===Jordan===