The US is calling for sanctions against Syria and accuses President Assad of turning to Iran in a way that could unite the two against Washington`s closest ally in the region - Israel. Some like it hot, but this spring things have heated up perhaps too much in the Arab world. Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and now Syria`s opposition is planning a `Day of Rage` after Friday prayers, in the face of violent crackdown on protesters. The Northern African region and the Middle East are engulfed in brutal civil wars, with the western powers playing an important hand. Some believe this will not stop any time soon and that Arab uprisings have the potential for spreading further east. And it is easy to guess who is next in line for the great upheaval in the region. "President Assad is disingenuously blaming outsiders, while at the same time seeking Iranian assistance in repressing Syrian citizens," said Susan Rice, US ambassador to the UN. This may just be a thinly veiled hint at where exactly the United States is looking to get involved. "I think Iran has been targeted for some time, and if you watch the propaganda about Syria, Washington is now claiming that Iran is helping Syria oppress the protesters," says Paul Craig Roberts, a former Reagan administration official. "What`s different about Syria and Iran about the protest is that in both cases we know for a fact that the United States government was supporting opposition groups. And so it`s only in those two countries where Washington has an interest in intervening." Tehran has been in a long-standing alliance with Syria in this strategically important region, right next to Iran`s arch-nemesis, Israel. "Syria isn`t the same as Libya geopolitically," says Sergey Voronin, professor at the Peoples` Friendship University. "We`ve always realized that Syria is Iran`s springboard in its fight against Israel. This is why it will eventually make a powerful synergetic impact on Iran`s positions. This brings us back to the question: which country will follow Syria? If events in Syria progress according to the Libyan scenario, we will probably see a similar development in Iran, unfortunately. That is, Iran will repeat the Syrian scenario." Iranian ships have dropped anchor in Syrian ports in nervous proximity to Tel Aviv. With Damascus crippled by crisis, Iran may lose its footing in the region. "This is, again, a continuation of the idea that you use the international machinery to achieve your national objectives under the pretext that you`re actually trying to protect human rights," says Sabah al-Mukhtar, president of the Arab Lawyers Association. Should the US and its allies decide to go through with the habit of meddling in aiding revolutionary forces in the region, the result may be catastrophic. "If there`s foreign intervention in Syria, yes, Iran`s intervention in response is a definite and very real possibility, just as much as it interfered in Iraq when the US invaded that country," said James Denselow, a writer on Middle East politics and security issues. And if suspicions prove true, the world may be in for an entirely different ball game, if Iran and the US get involved in a very real hot confrontation. Lode Vanoost, former Deputy Speaker of the Belgian parliament thinks that Iran`s involvement in the conflict is going to jeopardize Israel`s whole policy within the Middle East. "So far [Israelis] have been supported by all these dictatorial regimes, in Egypt, all over the place," he said. "In the short run this is good for Israel. Nobody is paying attention that the occupation, the settlements are going on, that the repression of Palestinian people keeps going on. In the long run this is going to be problematic indeed." "Syria and Iran have been allies for a long [time]," he added. "It`s pretty obvious if they get into trouble in Damascus, they are going to look for support elsewhere."