The Iranian Revolutionary Guard have been placed on a war footing. Iran is again facing international pressure over it’s nuclear program, and it is now increasingly apparent that Iran will not give up it’s nuclear ambitions.

The Iranian government believe it’s nuclear program is the victim of a concerted and sustained attack from the West, beginning last year with a cyber attack directly upon it’s nuclear facilities. Iran also believe the West is responsible for two recent explosions, both military targets.

“It looks like the 21st century form of war,” said Patrick Clawson of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a Washington think tank, told the Los Angeles Times. “It does appear that there is a campaign of assassinations and cyber war, as well as the semi-acknowledged campaign of sabotage.”

Iran have been hitting back by raiding the British embassy in Tehran and shooting down a US spy drone. Iran have seized computers from the British embassy, and the US security services are concerned over the loss of the spy drone.

This escalation in the region has to be taken seriously. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has openly spoken of his belief that he is God’s chosen vessel to usher in the coming of the Mahdi, an Islamic Messianic figure.

The Mahdi, or 12th Imam is prophesied to come in the midst of an apocalyptic type war, resulting in the destruction of Israel. It is little wonder that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is taking the threat very seriously. Prime Minister Netanyahu has said Israel would make “the right decision at the right moment”. For Israel, an Iran with a nuclear arsenal is not an option that they will tolerate.