Russia fears that attack on Iran spreads war to neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan, and draws Russia into a regional maelstrom

Russia has reportedly ordered the military to plan war games to deal with potential spillover from a US-Iran conflict.

As tensions ratchet up in the Persian Gulf, the Kremlin is signaling that it will use all its diplomatic influence to oppose war and, according to a leading Moscow newspaper, has ordered the military to prepare for any possible spillover from a conflict between Iran and the US into the sensitive post-Soviet Caucasus region.

The independent Moscow daily "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" reported Monday that this year's annual military exercises in Russia's south, Kavkaz 2012, will be much larger than usual and organized around the premise of a war that begins with an attack on Iran but spreads to neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan, and draws Russia into a regional maelstrom. The newspaper said the war games, which are usually confined to Russian territory, might this year include maneuvers in the breakaway Georgian statelets of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and perhaps also in Russian-allied Armenia.

[link to www.csmonitor.com]