Escalation ladder must be followed sequentially and biochemical weapons haven't been used yet; Israel prefers a prolonged war that weakens the US; political/moral taboo and multi-dimensional constraints (troop morale, public opinion, ally relations) prevent use
Iran emerges as dominant regional power (Rise of Persia)
Iran selectively controls Strait of Hormuz passage (letting allies through, blocking enemies) and calibrates drone strikes to reward cooperation and punish resistance giving it more strategic flexibility than the US
Iran
GCC, global shipping
Ongoing
Partially happened
Mar 4, 2026
n/a
Iran claims full control of the Strait of Hormuz and suggests using it for political leverage.
Middle East moves toward total war and full militarization
All nations in the region shift to total war footing where every citizen is recruited into the war effort and entire economies are geared toward military production; accompanied by massive censorship in Israel and GCC where filming attacks is banned
Saudi Arabia seeks a conflict where the US, Israel, and Iran weaken each other; with oil reserves depleting it must act now to control regional trade routes or face irrelevance
Israel works to weaken the US through prolonged war
Israel avoids nuclear escalation because a long war that destroys American political will serves Israeli interests; if America loses, Israel becomes the dominant regional power
US fights this war to prevent BRICS heartland unification
US military doctrine requires preventing Russia-Iran-China from forming a continental trade bloc; if the heartland unifies it can trade by rail bypassing US naval dominance; destroying Iran fractures the heartland and maintains US hegemony
US will send ground troops and institute a national draft
Senator Blumenthal confirms after classified briefing that the US is on a path toward deploying troops on the ground in Iran; administration has not articulated a budget or end date for the war indicating open-ended commitment
Israel becomes the dominant Middle East power (Greater Israel project)
Israel becomes center of one world government using AI surveillance and digital ID (Pax Judea / mark of the beast); tech companies like Nvidia, Oracle, Microsoft relocate to Israel as the new center of global power
Greek-Turkish war over Constantinople with Russian backing
Third Rome prophecy requires Greeks to return to Constantinople (Istanbul); Russia supports Greece against Turkey after NATO collapses; Turkey weakened by Middle East war participation
Rise of global antisemitism forces Jewish diaspora to Israel
Growing antisemitism worldwide compels Jewish populations to return to Israel fulfilling the eschatological requirement of ingathering the diaspora before the messianic age