Unbeknownst to Americans and westerners who have been following the Syrian civil war and the recent Israeli-Hamas conflict which has now reached a ceasefire stage, another major crisis point could erupt in the Mideast. Iran has been provoking the Saudis with military intrusions into Saudi air and maritime interests. The first link reports that Iranian helicopters have hovered over Saudi oil facilities and Iranian military vessels have stopped a Saudi vessel. These kinds of Iranian provocations against Saudi Arabia have brought an understandable Saudi threat to retaliate against Iran if these Iranian provocations continue.
Iran has rapidly been increasing its military power, but the Saudis have been increasing their military forces as well. One never knows where a spark could set off a wider regional conflict in the Mideast. If Iran continues to provoke the Saudis, a major war could erupt between the Sunni Arab Saudis and the Shiite Persian Iranians. If this occurs, who are Saudi Arabia’s natural allies? Jordan, Kuwait and some Gulf states are logical Saudi allies. Western Iraq is Sunni Moslem and would likely be allied to the Saudis. However, the Iraqi central government is run by Shiites allied to Iran. Turkey is a key question mark. It is not Arab, but it is Sunni so its natural allegiance would seem to be with the Saudis—especially since the Turks are now at loggerheads with the Iranian-backed Assad regime in Syria. The Syrian rebels are overwhelmingly Sunnis so their loyalties would likely be with the Saudis.
However, the role of Jordan is a question mark. The Hashemite King of Jordan would, no doubt, be allied with the Saudi leaders; however, a strange undercurrent has emerged in Jordan. Protests have erupted over the price of gas in Jordan, and the Muslim Brotherhood seems to be fomenting or participating in these protests. What is especially odd is a report that the USA is secretly aiding the Moslem Brotherhood in Jordan (see second link and third link). This is most odd as the USA should be allied with the pro-western King of Jordan. However, the Obama administration’s policies in the “Arab Spring” resulted in the pro-western Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak, being abandoned by the Obama administration, so Jordan’s king is likely watching the US role in his nation with great scrutiny.
Iran also has the backing of Russia and China so the Saudis need the backing of the USA , its traditional ally and oil customer, in any conflict with Iran. If Iran shuts the Straits of Hormuz to Saudi and Kuwaiti oil, all of the Saudi oil customers in the world would have a strong motivation to provide assistance to the Saudis. Behind the scenes, the Israelis would also likely assist the Saudis in whatever way they could, under the wisdom of the adage: “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Iran is the enemy of both Israel and the Saudis so these nations have every reason to assist each other against Iran, in spite of past histories.
In Matthew 24:6, Jesus Christ prophesied the latter days just before his return would be characterized by “wars and rumors of wars.” The saber-rattling between Iran and Saudi Arabia is now in the “rumor of war” category. Whether it will escalate into a shooting war in the future is problematic, but possible. There are so many points of conflict now growing in the volatile Mideast that one never knows what spark might set off a regional war. Christians are told to “watch” world events and prophetic trends in the latter days (Luke 21:36), and the Mideast is a region which needs to be watched very closely.
http://www.newenglishreview.org/blog_display.cfm/blog_id/44922
