Explosive drones likely launched by Iranian-backed militias last Wednesday night targeted the At-Tanf U.S. airbase in eastern Syria, near the Iraqi and Jordanian borders. The strike appears to be in retaliation for alleged Israeli strikes on Iranian-linked targets in Syria, which the Syrian regime said came from the direction of the At-Tanf base.

These events represent an escalation in a much longer struggle.

Since 2013, Israel has been waging a shadow war aimed at preventing Iran from building a war machine in Syria.

Nevertheless, despite considerable success in denting Tehran's plans for Syria, the Islamic Republic remains committed to entrenching itself in Syria, building a new terror army there, and equipping it with growing firepower capabilities.

Israel's reported gray zone covert strikes are designed to disrupt Iran's activities without sparking an all-out regional war. The strikes are fueled by the combination of high quality intelligence on the weapons and movements of the Iranian axis in Syria, and Israel's precision air power.

This combination has stopped the Islamic Republic from realizing part of its dangerous vision for Syria, but not all of it, and all successes are only temporary.

Between 2013 and 2016, Iran had planned on having its own military forces and bases on Israel's doorstep in Syria. This dangerous vision included Iranian navy base for its ships on the Syrian coastline, ground bases for its land troops, and air bases for its aircraft in Syria.

The idea that pressure on Assad can prevent the Iranians from continuing to set up terrorist bases on the Syrian Golan Heights, deter Assad from cooperating with those efforts, or turning a blind eye to them, or to force Assad from stopping Iran's tendency of embedding its military bases in Syrian ones – is simply unrealistic.

The Assad regime is simply too weak, intertwined with Iran, and dependent on it to be separated from the Iranian mother ship – even if it wanted to. For now, the shadow war is set to continue.