Will the US and Israel go to war with Iran? Several recent news stories suggest that it may now be more likely than ever.

The latest of these stories features the outgoing Home Front Defense Minister Matan Vilnai, who has said in a recent interview with the Maariv newspaper that the Israeli military is 'prepared as never before' for war with Iran. In the same interview he says that Israeli analysts have estimated that Strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities would result in a 30 day war, which would be fought on multiple fronts, and which would result in approximately 500 Israeli casualties.

Although there is no new specific information about impending Israeli strikes against Iran's nuclear enrichment program, which is widely believed to be part of a wider secret program to develop nuclear weapons, there is considerable circumstantial evidence that the threat of such an action is more likely than ever. MSN, for example, claim that the Israeli media view the replacement of Matan Vilnai with Avi Dichter, who will now take up the post of Home Front Defense Minister, is being interpreted by the Israeli media as a 'signal that Israel is willing to strike'

This follows hot on the heels of an apparent Israeli media blitz over the weekend which saw many stories across the country's media debating the wisdom of such strikes, which some analyst believe may be down to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu trying to win over public opinion in favour of strikes against Iran.

But Israel launching air strikes against Iran's nuclear program is not the only path to war for the US and Iran which is looking increasingly likely. World News Curator reported today that the 'proxy war' described by the ex UN Chief Ban Ki Moon between America and Iran in Syria is coming out of the shadows and becoming increasingly explicit. This assessment is based on several recent news stories, including the news that Iran is training and equiping a new militia force to fight alongside Assad's army against the rebel forces of the Free Syrian army, at the same time Turkey and the US are discussing the possibility of a 'more visible' presence of US forces in Syria, which may include the establishment of no-fly zones.

When you combine these two factors it seems to me that war with Iran is now more likely than it has ever been - what do you think?