No end to war in sight after one month as Iran squeezes global economy

Pne month into the war, perhaps only one outcome is certain: Immense damage to the global economy.

All sides say they are winning. But one month into this war, perhaps only one outcome is certain: immense damage to the global economy.

After four weeks, President Donald Trump is talking up negotiations to end this conflict that he started alongside Israel. That’s even as thousands more American troops head to the Middle East with a possible ground operation looming.

The U.S. and Israel say the war has been an unmitigated success. Indeed it has unleashed major damage on Iran: killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and echelons of his top officials while gutting its navy and missile defenses, but also killing almost 2,000 people, many of them civilians, according to Iranian officials.

But Iran has mounted a response — which many regional officials and expert observers warned about beforehand — that is already being felt around the world. Tehran has used missiles and cheap drones to effectively blockade the Strait of Hormuz, a vital trade route through which 20% of the world’s oil passed daily before the war, while attacking Gulf oil and gas facilities.