The White House has asked the Pentagon for options to bomb Iran before the midterm elections, a move that is already pushing oil prices back up and is bad news for drivers, shippers, and anyone hoping for cheaper gas.

• Pentagon planners are drawing up strike options against Iranian energy and nuclear sites, with no final decision made.
• The goal is to lower gas prices and claim a win before voters go to the polls, but bombing oil infrastructure does the opposite.
• Just the leak that strikes are being considered pushed Brent crude back above $105, erasing relief from G7 emergency oil releases.
• Netanyahu is pushing the idea hardest because he faces his own election and benefits from a wartime rally.
• Saudi Arabia is now taking the worst Houthi attacks yet, with two airports hit, deaths, and Riyadh's airspace shut down.

Outlook: More strikes look like a question of when, not if, with a third carrier group and 10,000 more troops already heading to the region and gas and diesel prices likely to climb further.