Iran and Syria Call for War

It seems the regional war in the Middle East I warned about just yesterday is coming fully into the open with a recent joint press conference by Iran and Syria. Of note:

"The enemies of this region should drop their plans to strike the interests of this region, for these enemies will burn by the fire of the people," Ahmadinejad stated. "Both countries are united in a frontier facing common enemies to the region."

Ahmadinejad warned the unnamed enemies to abandon their “hostile plans,” stating "Syria and Iran are aspiring for this summer to be hot by virtue of the victories that will be attained by the peoples of the region... and the enemies of the peoples of the region are on their way to perdition and defeat".

The article also does an interesting job at pointing out the ties of this alliance with Russia:

As part of the new military alliance, Iran will fund over $1 billion in new defense equipment for Syria including: 400 Russian tanks, 8 Mikoyan helicopters, 8 Sukhoi fighter jets, 18 MiG-31s, Iranian armoured vehicles and tanks, and Chinese C-801/802 missiles.

According to the report a threat is also posed to Siniora government in Lebanon:

Ahmadinejad reportedly also pledged to help Syria overthrow Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and to aid in the restoration of pro-Syrian influence within the Lebanese parliament. In addition, Iran will fund Syrian research towards the respective establishment and improvement of nuclear and biological weapons programs.

Israeli politicians are also reacting heavily to this announcement:

Knesset Member Aryeh Eldad (National Union) said the military alliance forged between Iran and Syria is “reminiscent of the pacts that were signed on the eve of the Six Day and Yom Kippur wars”.

"The Iranian decision will lead to the launching of an attack on Israel from Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Iran,” Eldad stated

.

"For some reason, the government of Israel, chooses to ignore not only intelligence information, but even information that is published for all to see," he added.

Including calls for an emergency government:

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman (Israel Beiteinu) called for Olmert and Opposition Leader Benyamin Netanyahu (Likud) to form a unity government to deal with the growing Iranian-Syrian threat.

"The strengthening of the relationship between Assad and Ahmadinejad demands that Israel reorganize its political and military preparations," said Lieberman.

"The Iranian threat, said the minister, remains outside of politics, and therefore I call on the prime minister and the head of the opposition to reconsider forming a national emergency government.

This is happening at the same time as an ultimatum from Turkey:

Turkey gave a warning on Saturday that it could send troops into Northern Iraq if talks with Iraqi and US officials after Sunday’s general elections fail to produce effective measures against Kurdish rebels based there.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he had invited his Iraqi counterpart Nuri al-Maliki to visit Ankara after the elections to discuss the presence of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) rebels in northern Iraq.

Accusing Washingon of failing to fulfill its pledges of curbing the PKK, Erdogan said he would seek trilateral talks in order to resolve the dispute.

“We will ask them to take whatever step is necessary or we will do whatever is necessary,” Erdogan was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as telling the Kanal-7 network.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul also said that Ankara would not refrain from action to eliminate the threat posed by the PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by both Ankara and Washington. “Our aim is not to enter Iraq, but to neutralize the terrorist organization. We will use our right (of self-defence) as long as the terrorist organization continues to harm Turkey,” Gul told the TGRT television channel, Anatolia said. Mounting PKK violence has been one of the dominant issues in campaigning ahead of the July 22 elections, with the opposition attacking Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) for being soft on the issue.

A Turkish-Iranian invasion could be the trigger for this regional war that will likely engulf the entire Middle East.