@jolyonQatar is making another push to get talks going before the election, but the room for a deal is closing quickly. Meanwhile Iran's Supreme Leader has told his forces to hit back right away, anywhere, should the U.S. or Israel strike again, and Iranian commanders are redrawing their target lists to cover every American and Israeli asset. The election angle comes from a U.S. official who told Axios that a big Republican midterm loss could make Trump more inclined to go bold on Iran. A White House official pushed back, saying the vote won't factor into any strike decision. Source: Axios / Writer: Lucas

@jolyonQatar is making another push to get talks going before the election, but the room for a deal is closing quickly. Meanwhile Iran's Supreme Leader has told his forces to hit back right away, anywhere, should the U.S. or Israel strike again, and Iranian commanders are redrawing their target lists to cover every American and Israeli asset. The election angle comes from a U.S. official who told Axios that a big Republican midterm loss could make Trump more inclined to go bold on Iran. A White House official pushed back, saying the vote won't factor into any strike decision. Source: Axios / Writer: Lucas