The U.S. had just finished a two day naval exercise in the Persian Gulf which provoked Iran. Yesterday the Iranians conducted their own unannounced military exercise in the Persian Gulf. Iran test fired a new longer range missile, news headlines say today.
Israel is keeping up its incursion into Gaza "that has seen 10 Palestinians and an Israeli soldier killed in barely 24 hours in one of its largest operations since militants seized a soldier in late June" according to AFP.
Israel flew mock bombing runs over Beirut day before yesterday, and yesterday said they are rethinking their signature of a U.N. sponsored cease-fire in light of intelligence reports of weapons being smuggled into Lebanon.
The U.S. has warned Lebanon about Hezbollah demanding 1/3 of cabinet seats so they can freeze investigations into the killing of Lebanese Prime Miniter Rafik Hariri which has been linked to Syria. The U.S. government is also warning Lebanon of a plot by Syria, Hezbollah, and Iran to "bring down" the Lebanese government. Further, Syria is accused of allowing terrorists to infiltrate into Iraq from their territory. Suddenly the entire region begins to look highly unstable.