Russia carried out a second wave of bombing raids in Syria on Friday while Iran reportedly sent ground troops, raising tensions with Washington and heightening the risk that Australia is being drawn into an escalating confrontation between major powers. 
Moscow again appeared to target anti-government rebels in a bid to defend the Kremlin's ally Bashar al-Assad under the cover of attacking the Islamic State terror group.
Meanwhile hundreds of Iranian ground troops have reportedly arrived in Syria and are preparing to fight on the side of the Assad regime, likely with Russian air cover, underscoring the impression that major power interests are converging on the disintegrating Middle Eastern nation.
Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop told Fairfax Media that Australia could consider stepping up its tempo of air strikes in Syria after the US vowed to "accelerate" the Western-led coalition's efforts in the war-torn country.
But she ruled out expanding Australia's mission or sending additional military resources.
And Ms Bishop struck what appeared to be a more conciliatory tone towards Moscow than US officials have done. She said the Russian strikes were "not entirely unexpected" and maintained that Australia and its allies still had a common goal with Moscow in defeating the militant group.
She also said that as of Friday afternoon news reports that Russian planes attacked forces other than Islamic State had not been verified.
"We are assuming that Russia is targeting ISIL. It remains to be seen what their motivation is," she said.
"I think the realisation is that there is a common enemy in ISIL or Daesh. Russia has 1200 foreign terrorist fighters who are fighting in Syria and Iraq and they have been speaking about their concerns for quite some time over this."
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter by contrast earlier this week accused Russia of "pouring gasoline on the fire" by carrying out the strikes. There were widespread reports on Friday that Russian bombing raids had hit moderate rebels who were trained and supported by the CIA - a direct affront to the US-led efforts.
Military analysts say that Islamic State is not heavily active in the areas around the central western city of Homs where most of the Russian strikes have happened.
Ms Bishop has been one of the strongest voices in the past week for a pragmatic political solution to resolve the Syrian crisis, even if it means allowing Assad to remain temporarily in power.
She said the "circumstances are now ripe" for talks and that these would have to include the Syrian regime and Iran.