The war waged between Israel and the United States and Iran is rapidly approaching its final stages. The time frame everyone is focusing on is November 2020, when the American presidential elections will take place. The Iranians pray that the Democrats will win and that the new president will return to the nuclear agreement, as this would remove President Donald Trump’s sanctions that are strangling the Iranian economy. Israel prays for the reverse scenario: Trump’s continued rule is vital to the implementation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s grand plan. According to Netanyahu’s aspired scenario, Iran will either renounce its nuclear arms dream or exchange the ayatollah rulership. (Actually, Netanyahu hopes and prays that both of these things happen.)

Two events this week led the sides to the final stretch.

The first event was the implementation on April 22 of the final stage of Trump’s paralyzing sanctions — the waivers granted by the United States to several countries that have continued to purchase Iranian crude oil will come to an end. The goal: to lower the export of Iranian oil to zero, or close to zero, thus bringing the entire regime to its knees.

Simultaneously, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has replaced the veteran commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, after holding the position for more than 11 years. Israel is keeping a close eye on these developments, and dampens any enthusiasm. “This is not an expression of Iranian weakness,” a high-placed Israeli security official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. “Jafari is worn out in his current position; his accomplishments were only lukewarm. So they turned him into a scapegoat and blamed him for the failed treatment of the [recent] flood disaster and its victims, so that it would be easy to replace him.”