A dramatic escalation of hostilities between the U.S. and Iran took place on Friday, January 3. The second most powerful person in Iran, Commander of the Revolutionary Guards Qassim Suleiman was killed by a U.S. drone strike. Unfortunately, most likely it will lead to war, and here is why:

 Saturn/Pluto conjunction is already in effect and will become exact on January 13, 2020. Historically, stressful aspects between Saturn and Pluto, especially conjunctions, have coincided with a rise in violence. Thus, Saturn/Pluto conjunction in 1914 marked the beginning of WWI, while a square between these two planets—WWII. Almost all Israeli-Arab wars occurred during Saturn/Pluto stressful aspects. The same is true for most terrorist attacks against the U.S. including the tragedy of September 11. Already in December 2019, when Saturn was approaching its conjunction to Pluto, we could observe a dramatic rise in violence around the world. Violent protests in Ecuador, Columbia, Bolivia, Chile, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, India and Hong Kong took lives of thousands, while terrorists activities intensified in Central and East Africa. At the same time, the frequency of hate crimes rose dramatically in the U.S. The level of violence may rise even more when this conjunction becomes exact in mid-January. Since Israel and its Arab neighbors gained their independence in the late 1940s, eight Saturn/Pluto major stressful aspects, such as conjunctions, squares and oppositions took place. Six of them coincided with outbreaks of wars. 

Uranus/Neptune semi-square came in effect in the mid-2016. Its stressful influence will be felt through the spring of 2021. Historically, all Uranus/Neptune stressful aspects, including conjunctions, semi-squares, squares, sesqui-squares (135°) and oppositions, marked a rise in violence. Thus, the Korean War in 1950-53 and Yom Kippur War in 1973 both took place during such Uranus/Neptune stressful aspects. There have been three Uranus/Neptune stressful aspects since Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Iraq gained independence. Uranus/Neptune square in 1952-56, coincided with Saturn/Pluto square in 1955-56 marking the Suez Canal War in October-November 1956. Uranus/Neptune semi-square in 1971-74, which occurred at the same time as Saturn/Pluto square in 1973-74, coincided with the Yom Kippur War in October 1973. Fortunately, no war raged in the Middle East during Uranus/Neptune conjunction in 1991-94, which coincided with Saturn/Pluto square in 1993. However, there was an obvious increase in intensity in the Iraqi Civil War fought on and off since 1991. So, there is 66.7% probability of a war starting in the Middle East during a combination of the Uranus/Neptune semi-square with Saturn/Pluto square. Usually, Saturn/Pluto conjunctions are even more stressful then Saturn/Pluto squares. Therefore, the influences of the current Uranus/Neptune semi-square and Saturn/Pluto conjunction are likely to produce another war in the Middle East, and there is at least 66.7% probability of this war starting in 2020.

How severe this war will be? The planetary aspects formed by Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto in 2020 are very similar to those formed during the Suez Canal War in 1956 and Yom Kippur War in 1973. So, this new war—if occurs—will last no more than a month, will be limited in scope and the number of casualties will be between seven and thirty thousand.

When will it start? Most likely this war—if occurs—will start on or close to January 13 when Mars forms an exact semi-square to the quadruple conjunction of the Sun, Mercury, Saturn and Pluto. The probability will be almost as high on January 18, 21, 23 and 27-29 when the Sun, or least one of the inner planets (Mercury, Venus and Mars) will form stressful aspects to Saturn/Pluto conjunction or to Uranus/Neptune semi-square.

If this war does not start in January, there are still many possibilities for it to start during Jupiter/Pluto conjunction from March through June and in November of 2020, as well as in mid-February when Saturn forms a conjunction to Pluto in the U.S. chart.

Will the U.S. be directly involved in this war? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. Since the U.S. became a global power during the Spanish-American War in 1898, it was always fighting wars during the stressful aspects between Uranus/Neptune and Pluto while at least one of these planets and/or Jupiter, Saturn or North Node transited through the U.S. 7^th House of Partners and Enemies, and this is what is taking place in 2020. 

Who else will be involved in this war? From the superficial glance, there are obvious indications that both Israel and Iran may be involved in this war. There is even a possibility for an insurrection in Iran. More research is needed to answer this question. 

On a positive note: We are entering a new 33-year Saturn/Pluto cycle, which will bring many positive changes to the world. Besides, for the vast majority of my readers all the trials and tribulations of 2020 will occur only on their TV screens and will not directly affect their personal lives.