Defense Secretary Mark Esper had a direct message to Iran and its Shia militia proxies in Iraq this week: If you dare to take shots at an American or an American facility, you can expect a very strong response. “The game has changed,” Esper told reporters during a Pentagon press gaggle on Jan. 2. The United States will not only respond to additional rocket attacks but will order preemptive strikes on Shia militia targets if Washington gets wind of an operation.

The targeted killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard commander Qassem Soleimani, the most legendary general in the Islamic Republic’s 40-year history, is bound to upend the region with a chaos we may have never seen.