It could be the business was borderline insolvent and cash from the checks acted as a short term loan from Walmart.

That or he was trying to create the create the illusion of cash flow in order to get the business to qualify for certain kinds of loans. The money from the loans he could subsequently embezzled. Then if the company went bankrupt the creditors would be at a loss.

I think you might be underestimating the number of democrats that are also war hawks who want to bomb Iran.

If that were true Iran would have almost certainly taken some of the actions I’ve described. They’re trying to use that as a threat to get the US to back down and reign in their attack dog.

They could believe in their longterm capacity for success in a war with Israel and the US but still want to avoid all of the destruction that would entail. If they blow up Saudi oil fields, close the straits of hormuz, and attack US bases then any hope of deescalation is lost.