On February 28th, the U.S and Israel joined forces to launch “Operation Epic Fury”– a mass departure of missiles across over 1,000 sites in Iran.
The Trump Administration and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu have claimed the reasoning behind the attacks was to reform diplomacy in Iran; both parties speculate nuclear weapons were being developed under their current regime due to the nation’s drastic increase in uranium stockpiling.
The operation resulted in Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, being officially confirmed dead on March 1st. As of March 8th, his son Mojtaba Khamenei was appointed to be the new supreme leader by a council of 88 clerics known as the Assembly of Experts. The role of supreme leader being passed from father to son has never happened before in Iran, marking this as the beginning of the first Iranian dynasty.
The majority of turmoil within Iran itself stems from the initial missiles dropped on that first Saturday morning. One missile in particular landed at the site of an all-girls school and was responsible for the death of 168 people, most of which being girls aged 7-12.
It has been widely speculated where this missile came from, but the preliminary U.S assessment suggests that the attack was likely on behalf of the U.S., though this claim has been refuted by members of the Trump administration.
“Well, clearly, the United States would not deliberately target a school. We would have no interest, and frankly no incentive, to target civilian infrastructure.” claims Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.
In addition, President Trump asserts the missile was an error on Iran’s part, saying that “It was done by Iran, because they’re very inaccurate with their munitions, they have no accuracy whatsoever.”
“I think the war is very complete, pretty much,” the president said, speaking from his Doral, Florida, golf club. “[Iran has] no navy, no communications, they’ve got no air force. Their missiles are down to a scatter. Their drones are being blown up all over the place, including their manufacturing of drones.”
As the war unfolds, there also becomes an issue concerning the global economy. The crisis mainly revolves around the Strait of Hormuz, located in the Middle East. As a vital part for international trade, this passage typically handles 20% of the world’s oil supply. Due to the warfare, Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have blockcaded the Strait, not allowing any western countries to access oil. With shipping now at a complete standstill, the rippling effects are already reaching American consumers through rising gas prices, which are projected to climb even higher as the supply remains cut off.
In addition, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said in its monthly oil report Thursday that the Middle East conflict is “creating the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.”
This disruption has caused the IEA to authorize the release of 400 million barrels of oil from U.S. emergency resources, marking the largest action in the organization’s history to counteract supply shortages as a result of war with the Middle East.
This move also aims to stabilize the global markets and curb rising oil prices following the significant blockage of the Strait of Hormuz.
Americans are not only feeling the effects through gas prices; the stock market has also taken a major hit. As of late last week, major U.S. stock indexes are currently down 1% or more, with the addition of the Dow falling 510 points (or 1.08%). Big corporations are especially taking the fall; for example the S&P 500 was down 1%, and the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite sank 1.3%. Subsequently, oil prices have also surged 9.8%, to now around 95 dollars a gallon.
As all of this unfolds, the new Iranian Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, released their first message regarding the war. He warns that the Strait will remain closed as a tactic to ensure chaos and disrupt the world’s economy.
Entering the third week of war, President Trump urges NATO allies and China to get involved in securing the Strait of Hormuz, claiming that failure to do so would mean a “very bad future for NATO” .
Select countries have been responsive to Trump’s request, China in particular has been the most on board and has made plans to meet with the President by the end of the month.
However, most NATO countries have been reluctant to get involved. As of Monday, Germany and the United Kingdom have both publicly denounced involvement despite Trump’s threats. Berlin’s government spokesperson; Chancellor Friedrich Merz claims “This war has nothing to do with NATO. It is not NATO’s war.”
