Edward Wong via The New York Times:

‘The alerts over the new threats come after eight months of a war against Iran started by Mr. Trump and Israel that has sent energy prices soaring, roiling economies around the world and eroding Mr. Trump’s approval at home. The United States and Israel have drawn up plans for a new wave of strikes on Iran after the U.S. midterm elections, though Mr. Trump has not made a final decision to carry them out, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.…’

It seems increasingly likely to me that inflating this purported threat serves chiefly to furnish a pretext for an “October surprise”: a calculated escalation of American and Israeli aggression timed to precede elections in both countries.