“The plate has shattered,” said Abu Ahmed, using an Arabic expression. “There’s strife between us now, it’s been planted, and the problem is going to exist forever in Jabla.”

The Syrian resident of the coastal city expressed his anger over the crackdown of Syrian troops which killed 12 more people there on Sunday.

Over 400 people have now been killed in Syria since the wave of protests began.

On Monday, government forces, including armored tanks, stormed the city of Dara, reportedly killing another 25 protesters in that city.

“The military’s move into the town seemed to signal a new, harrowing chapter in a crackdown,” reported the New York Times. “Until now the government has been hewing to a mix of concessions and brute force, but its actions Monday indicated that it had chosen the latter, seeking to crush a wave of dissent in virtually every province that has shaken the once uncontested rule of President Bashar al-Assad.”

The protests seem to be reaching a tipping point in Syria, with demonstrators taking on a much more anti-regime tone—despite the concessions made by Assad. If Assad decides to crack down harder, he risks delegitimizing the few freedoms he recently restored. Yet, the anti-government protests show few signs of diminishing. And with each protester killed, more families, more people, and new demonstrators take to the streets.

The great fear for the regime is that protests will break out in central Damascus. So far they have been limited to suburbs and rural areas. However, with reports of Syria’s wealthy beginning to flee the country and likely moving assets offshore, it would not be surprising to see the economy begin feeling the effects of the unrest, which would likely throw more fuel on the fire.

However, unlike in Egypt and to a lesser extent Libya, there is no organized opposition in Syria. Most of the protests are uncoordinated, which has allowed Assad to better hold on to power, despite the fact that his Alawite tribe makes up only a small minority within the nation. The Alawites ascribe to a denomination of Shiite Islam, similar to that practiced by the majority in Iran. However, the greater part of Syrians are Sunni. Syria also has large populations of repressed Kurds and Druze.

Another factor working against the protesters is regional power broker Iran. Syria is Iran’s biggest and most important ally. Iran doesn’t want Assad’s minority Alawite regime to fail. As such, Iran is investing heavily to support the ruling regime—providing riot control equipment, shock troops and diplomatic cover. With the Iranians backing Assad, much like how the Saudi Arabians are supporting the monarchy in Bahrain, any revolution in Syria won’t be quick and won’t be clean.

However, the Bible says that a political revolution is coming. Psalm 83 outlines an alliance of Arab nations that band together with the goal of destroying Israel. This is an alliance of nations that has never occurred in history. This group of nations makes a peace deal with an invading European power (termed the king of the north in Daniel 11 and Assur in Psalm 83) to avoid occupation. Syria is part of this Psalm 83 alliance of Arab nations.

The nations of Iran, Libya, Egypt and Ethiopia are not part of this Psalm 83 alliance. These nations, led by Iran, are the target of the invading European power.

This means that Syria will not long stay in the pro-Iran camp. A major shift in Syrian politics will occur in the near future. Unfortunately for the United States and Israel, the shift will just be from one radical camp to another. As Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote in the May/June edition of the Trumpet, the Psalm 83 alliance of nations “have what appears to be an even deeper hatred” of Israel than does Iran.

For Iran, the protests in Syria are a harbinger that, despite gains in Egypt and Libya, it will soon lose its most important and dependable regional ally.

For more information on the Psalm 83 alliance and why it is a prophecy for the near future, read “A Mysterious Prophecy” by Gerald Flurry.