Beware Irans most devious weapon another October surprise

The October surprise was born in Iran — and 46 years later, the Islamic Republic may be preparing to launch another one.In 1980, the hostage crisis — 52 Americans seized at the US embassy in Tehran the year before during Iran’s Islamic Revolution — dominated the presidential race between incumbent Jimmy Carter and challenger Ronald Reagan.Reagan’s campaign manager Bill Casey, assuming Iran would dread his hawkish boss’ victory, worried that Iran might release the hostages right before Election Day — and hand Carter a last-minute win.Seeking to short-circuit what he dubbed an “October surprise,” Casey told the press of his concern, and the phrase stuck.Today it’s used for any late-breaking event timed to swing an election.But Casey was wrong: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had his own reasons to want Carter defeated.Carter had admitted the hated Shah to the United States, making him the face of Washington’s decades-long support for the monarchy; Carter had frozen Iranian assets, imposed sanctions and broken diplomatic relations with Tehran.In Khomeini’s eyes, humiliating Carter and denying him the political triumph of the hostages’ homecoming served the Islamic Revolution’s interests.He held the hostages through Election Day and beyond, releasing them within minutes of Reagan’s inauguration on Jan.20, 1981 — extraordinary timing that fueled allegations of a secret Reagan-Iran deal, which exhaustive congressional investigations eventually debunked.By letting the hostages dangle, Khomeini successfully manipulated American politics.We may soon face another Iranian ploy aimed at leveraging foreign elections to weaken the regime’s enemies.Israel’s election is scheduled for Oct.

27; the US midterms are Nov.3, exactly one week later.That makes the end of October a potentially dangerous window for regime mischief.Tehran could attack Israel directly or engineer a serious escalation through one of its terror proxies �...