In the fog of war we should not be surprised by smoke and mirrors. Especially not when it comes to Iran.
Tehran has denied it. Baghdad says it 'knows nothing of it'. But it's been filmed and the Americans have, more or less, confirmed it in Sphinx-like terms.
Iran has been bombing Islamic State inside Iraq.
That's awkward. Awkward for Washington, which insists the air strikes are not coordinated with its forces who are also on operations in the same battle space.
Awkward for Tehran, where appearing to be on the same side as 'The Great Satan' undermines its standing among a fractious population where hardliners will be dismayed and opposition figures snort at the hypocrisy.
An American-made F-4 Phantom jet was seen bombing IS positions in Iraq's eastern Diya province a few days ago. Only Iran and Turkey fly these aircraft in this region and Ankara is firmly staying out of the war for now.
The airstrikes were in support of advancing Kurd peshmerga forces. Iran already has training officers and special forces troops from its al Quds brigade embedded with the Kurds who have, albeit unofficially, already benefitted from air support from the US coalition.
So the F-4 reports are credible. It appears they were conducted near Sa'adiya, identified first by Janes defence experts, as part of the biggest push against IS since June.
But they are also dangerous for the international coalition fighting IS. It excludes Iran, which is locked in negotiations with the international community aimed at ending its nuclear weapons programme.
Iran is a major player as a combatant not only against IS but also against all other Sunni rebel groups fighting both IS and the Syrian regime of Bashar al Assad.
Iran is Shi'a dominated. Its military is in the vanguard of its campaign for influence across the wider Middle East. Hezbollah, its Shi'a proxy in the Lebanon is fighting alongside Assad, as are Quds troopers. Assad gets most of his weapons from Tehran.
So when Iran's air force bombs Islamic State it risks reinforcing the view among many Sunnis, including those who hate IS, that the Americans are conspiring with Tehran to enfeeble the Sunni umma (nation).
As the US-led coalition is failing to harness Sunni rebel groups to its air strike campaign in Syria, it looks increasingly to them that the Americans are happy to see them get bombed by Assad (with what are probably Iranian weapons).
This will make it very difficult to successfully turn the Sunni tribes against Islamic Sate – and without them there is no prospect of destroying the death cult that has soaked the region in blood.
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