The Coming War with Syria?

Here's a recent map showing military dispositions in Syria:

As readers can see, while the Syrian regime controls most of the country, there are, shall we say, very complicated pockets.

As noted yesterday the Israelis say they have a plan to expel Iran from Syria.

We assume this entails operations east of the Golan, around Syrian airstrips, and the Beirut-Damascus Highway.

What to do about those two Russian flags north of Lebanon?

Well, this is interesting as hell:

“Israel and Russia have a shared interest to expel the Iranians from Syria,” said Gallant, who was speaking at an event in the Jerusalem suburb of Mevaseret Zion....

Gallant, a former top general, said as Syria and its allies have expanded the areas under regime control and inflicted defeats on rebel groups, Russia is no longer reliant on Iran and the two countries are at odds over “who will rebuild Syria.”

His comments mirrored those made Friday by the Russian deputy foreign minister, who denied Russia is allied with Iran and touted his country’s commitment to Israel’s security.

Netanyahu and Putin are in close contact and Bibi visits Moscow regularly for consultations. What could they have been talking about? What has changed that Moscow is denying its' relationship with Iran? 

Moscow cutting ties with Iran (at least in Syria) is a potentially huge development.