FieldMarshal
Banned
With a POD no earlier than September 22, 1981, brainstorm a way for the Iran-Iraq War to escalate into the Third World War. Bonus points are rewarded if the Soviet Union and Iran are on the same side (in OTL the Soviets and the Americans both largely supported Iraq, but many of the Soviet client states in the Middle East favored Iran).
I would think the most likely scenario would be for the Soviets to invade Iran in support of the Iraqis, sparking a US intervention under Carter Doctrine.
This was evidently a fairly common trope in the 1980s - Harold Coyle's first two technothrillers (Team Yankee and Sword Point) and Robert McCammon's post-apocalyptic horror novel Swan Song all feature scenarios where the Iran-Iraq War leads to WW3 or (at least a major US-USSR confrontation).
Any ideas?
I would think the most likely scenario would be for the Soviets to invade Iran in support of the Iraqis, sparking a US intervention under Carter Doctrine.
This was evidently a fairly common trope in the 1980s - Harold Coyle's first two technothrillers (Team Yankee and Sword Point) and Robert McCammon's post-apocalyptic horror novel Swan Song all feature scenarios where the Iran-Iraq War leads to WW3 or (at least a major US-USSR confrontation).
Any ideas?