I think that at this point nobody
really wants a war (except maybe Trump, since his approval ratings are lower than ever and war keeps presidents in power), as even those major players who are allies with Iran, such as China and Russia, have been avoiding it so far. Let's be honest, if China, Russia, or the US wanted to start WWIII, they would've done so by now. World nuclear superpowers don't need a reason/"act of aggression", they have enough political power and media control to simply make one up and run with it. There's a lot of really questionable leadership and politics in the world right now, but I think even the worst leaders have enough sanity left in them to realise that starting a "Great War" now would mean the utter desolation of their nation (Except maybe China, but I'll get there in a sec), both from within and without, as the world and citizens alike respond with a collective "yeah, nah, f**k1 that". As I said, the one exception here is China, who has the kind of terrifying power that means they could start
and win a world war if they wanted to - and everyone knows it. This means that they can keep doing whatever they want without fear of outside interference, so why bother with the economic strain of a war? To them, their populace is of better use in a workforce than in a war. I do believe there is
a conflict coming, but I believe it will be of the kind we are currently seeing in Hong Kong or Armenia, as general discontent with the way governments are being managed seems to be steadily rising. There won't be a "world war" as we know it, but rather a "world
at war [with itself]", and though that doesn't sound like a good thing (and, it isn't), it's far better than a nuclear winter that nobody asked for. As someone from the literal other side of the world from most of this (Australian), I might be missing some politics things that are key to understanding this conflict - especially since we're pre-occupied with the south-east side of the country burning to the ground - but that's just how it seems from my perspective. I've also got this message of unity from Matthew Mercer to share, to remind us all that we are strong and that no matter what comes of all this, humanity has lived through great peril before and we will do it again.
1 What's the stance on swearing around here? I never checked and I know it can be tight on forum websites