Crossfire War - Tehran Watch - Persian Gulf Theatre: Tehran/washington; Iran Supreme Leader Convenes War Council Meeting to Prepare for Attack By US - Nuclear Powered Carrier Uss Eisenhower Enroute to Persian Gulf - Arrival Date Oct 21 - Iran Threatens Shipping in Strait of Hormuz - Price of Oil Could Double - Triple

As Time writes in its cover story, "What Would War Look Like?," evidence of the forward deployment of minesweepers and word that the chief of naval operations had asked for a reworking of old plans for mining Iranian harbors "suggest that a much discussed--but until now largely theoretical--prospect has become real: that the U.S. may be preparing for war with Iran."

According to Lieut. Mike Kafka, a spokesman at the headquarters of the Second Fleet, based in Norfolk, Virginia, the Eisenhower Strike Group, bristling with Tomahawk cruise missiles, has received orders to depart the United States in a little over a week. Other official sources in the public affairs office of the Navy Department at the Pentagon confirm that this powerful armada is scheduled to arrive off the coast of Iran on or around October 21.