U.S. SHOOTS DOWN SYRIAN DRONE.

BEIRUT • The U.S. military said it shot down an Iranian-made armed drone in southern Syria on Tuesday, marking the third time this month that the U.S. has downed aircraft affiliated with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government.

The U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group said a U.S. F-15 fighter jet shot down the drone “after it displayed hostile intent” while approaching a military camp near the Syria-Jordan border. A similar drone was shot down in the same location after it dropped munitions near coalition forces on June 8.

The incidents in the vicinity of the Tanf camp, where U.S. forces train and advise local ground forces in the fight against IS, add to soaring regional tensions that could spiral out of control just as the fight against the extremists enters a crucial phase, with U.S.-backed forces pushing into the group’s de facto capital, the Syrian city of Raqqa.

The U.S. on Sunday shot down a Syrian jet for the first time during the conflict near Raqqa after it dropped bombs near the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces, which are battling IS. Russia condemned the U.S. action and in retaliation suspended a hotline intended to prevent such incidents.

Asked Tuesday whether the hotline was no longer being used, a Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, said he could not discuss the matter beyond saying the U.S. stands ready to use the line.

The U.S. has also fired on Syrian government ground forces in the east on two occasions in just the last month. 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 previously used to describe Hezbollah elements.

There are concerns that further confrontations could lead to a breakout of hostilities that would hinder the battle against ISIL.

Australia on Tuesday suspended its airstrikes against ISIL targets in Syria as a precaution, after Russia announced it was suspending the hotline and warned the U.S.-led coalition not to fly over Syrian army positions west of the Euphrates River.

In another first, Iran — another close Assad ally — fired ballistic missiles at ISIL targets in eastern Syria, in the province of Deir el-Zour, later on Sunday. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard described the strike as revenge for Islamic State attacks on Tehran this month that killed at least 18 people.

The U.S. military meanwhile confirmed Tuesday that top ISIL cleric Turki alBinali was killed in a coalition airstrike on May 31, in Mayadeen, Syria.