Last weekend’s flareup between Hezbollah and Israel received an unexpected reaction from Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. According to the Jerusalem Post, Bahrain’s foreign minister, a Saudi journalist and a Saudi military expert gave support to Israel. This is a huge shift from the past and indicates a warming in their relationship with Israel, which is also becoming more open. No doubt there will be much debate in Western circles about this, but the most likely reason is that those countries fear an ever-militaristic Iran. Before people get too excited about this, it is worth remembering that in this part of the world alliances continuously shift. What is in no doubt is that Iran is intent on colonising the entire region to further its long-stated aim of destroying Israel, something that the West continues to ignore and even, in the case of Europe, seems to support.