//SAM EVANS//

War is a very serious topic, however, in the case of a conflict between Iran and the U.S., there is nothing too serious about the threat of supposed WWIII. Everyone is focused on what they would do if WWIII was to happen. Having said that, it is very unlikely that Iran will take on the U.S. because of their limited military, few allies, and declining economy. 

The recent conflict between the U.S. and Iran began in 2018 when President Trump withdrew from the Iran Nuclear Deal. The Iran Nuclear Deal comprised of Iran reducing parts of its nuclear program in exchange for relief from some sanctions. These sanctions include the price of oil barrels from $73 to $74 a barrel, nullified US sanctions on countries trading with Iran, and decreased overall support for the Iranian military and development of ballistic missiles. 

President Trump directed the Treasury Department to “substantially increase” sanctions on Iran in response to the suspected Iranian attack on key Saudi Arabian oil facilities in Sept. 2019, thus furthering the conflict.  

The conflict came to a peak on Jan. 3 when the U.S. ordered a missile strike on Iran, which resulted in the death of Iran’s top commander General Qasem Soleimani.

These decisions Trump and the U.S. made didn’t make Iran too happy and led to the situation where we are right now; WWIII predictions and the reestablishment of the draft.  

Many are convinced that WWIII will happen, however, some are skeptical. The odds of this conflict turning into a world war are unlikely. Although attacks on another country like this are grounds for war, Iran wouldn’t be wise to start one. 

The U.S. has a bigger budget due to more tax money from a larger population going to the military. 

Iran’s military is estimated to be about 523,000 total, while the U.S. has approximately 1.3 million active-duty members with another 865,000 in reserve. The U.S. has a little over double what the Iranian military has when only comparing the countries’ military personnel. 

Of course, it can’t be a world war if the war is just between two countries. U.S. allies along with allies of Iran would need to get involved. The definite allies of Iran would be Iraq, Syria and about one-third of Yemen. There are also wildcards such as Oman, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and Kuwait, who may side with either of the two countries or none at all. 

The U.S. allies consist of  NATO(North Atlantic Treaty Organization), which includes 28 member countries, as well as other countries the U.S. allies with that aren’t part of NATO. 

There is a low chance of Iran and its allies winning a war against the U.S. That is unless they were able to keep a secret army, military-grade weapons, ships, planes, aircraft carriers and WMD’s well-hidden from anyone. The most real thing to come out of this situation is the airstrike itself and memes.