Smoke plumes rise following missile strikes in Tehran on March 1, 2026.
ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images
Even though President Donald Trump has been talking about taking military action in Iran for months, and made a first foray into the region last June by bombing what was said to be its largest nuclear facility, it unfolded as somewhat of a surprise when he announced the ongoing military campaign in Iran on social media in the early hours of Saturday morning.
So far, very little feels different in the economy. There’s been a lot of talk about oil prices—which is not surprising given the Persian Gulf’s importance in the natural resource—but the stock markets and commodity prices seem to be steady. Maybe the economy has absorbed so many big shocks in recent months—ranging from tariffs to domestic immigration crackdowns to sizable changes in energy policy to AI…
