(CNN) -- Reports that Iran is plotting to attack American targets in Iraq in response to U.S. intervention in Syria should come as no surprise. Armed conflicts are unpredictable and risky. But this latest communication, allegedly intercepted by U.S. intelligence, may prove less ominous than it sounds. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, the United States intercepted a message sent from Tehran to militants in neighboring Iraq, ordering them to target the American embassy in Baghdad and other U.S. interests if American forces strike Syria. Assuming that the information is correct -- and not meant by Iran to get into U.S. hands to send a threat -- it would seem that Iran will resort to its long-standing practice of using proxy militias and assorted terrorist groups to do its dirty work. This is as an alternative to stepping into the conflict with its own forces, which would escalate the war in Syria much more dangerously.
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Frida Ghitis: Reports Iran urging militants to target U.S. sites if U.S. hits Syria not surprising
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She says it may show Iran using proxies to attack rather than take on war it can't win
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She says Iran's Shiites want Assad to prevail but its rulers divided on how much to help
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Ghits: Threats must be taken seriously, but moral reason for strike is unchanged
Whatever the divisions among Iranians and the concerns of anti-American militias and terrorist groups about taking on the @placeholder, the threats have to be taken seriously.