The Middle East is facing an acute danger of war, with unpredictable and potentially devastating consequences for countries and populations of the region. A ‘shadow war’ is already being waged — by Israel and the US — against Iran; by a coalition of countries against Syria; and by the great powers against each other. A mere spark could set this tinder alight.The threat of a hot war is coming from three main directions: first, from Israel’s relentless and increasingly hysterical war-mongering against Iran; second, from America’s geopolitical ambitions in the oil-rich Gulf and its complicity in Israel’s anti-Iranian campaign; and third, from the hostility of some Sunni states towards Iran — and towards Shiites and Alawites in general.