WWIII started a while ago with the so called Arab Spring. Iran is one of the countries on the list.
History books will say WWIII started on Sept 11, 2001. That's what lit the fuse for the US to begin invading the Middle East, and there's no end in sight.
And yeah, I fully expect an attack on Iran by the end of the year.
They want Iran, and they have to go into Iran, or else it negates the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, plus decades of US foreign policy. Legally, US troops have to be out of Iraq by Dec 31st this year, or else they face prosecution by Iraqi authorities for any crimes committed under Iraqi law. So expect someone to strike Iran before that little law goes into effect.
Personally, I think all this Iran bullshit we hear / read is 100% pure propaganda. It's as stupid as before the Iraq invasion, where we heard about how Saddam boils babies alive, and has hundreds of mobile WMD factories cruising around the desert, about to kill millions of us any day now, etc. It's all bullshit.
I just don't believe Iran is some huge threat to global security, like they want us to believe. Really, if Iran ever made an aggressive stance, or a pre-emptive strike against any Western nation (or probably ANY nation for that matter), the entire Western world would unconditionally jump behind the US with full resources, Iran would lose backing from China and Russia, and would be gone within a week.
Military would be obliterated within 72 hours, and the government would be gone within a couple weeks at the most. What, is Iran's navy going to go against a modern US carrier group? That'd be like Mohammed Ali boxing a 9yo kid at full force. Iran wouldn't even be able to put up a decent fight, let alone have any chance of winning it. And everyone knows this, so I don't understand why we're so scared to the point we believe we need to invade. Oh right, Persian Gulf, oil, and other geo-political reasons. The Caspian Sea sure looks inviting, doesn't it?