The War Just Got a Lot More Dangerous
As Operation Epic Fury enters its tenth day, the conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran has taken a dramatic and potentially historic turn. According to bombshell reports from Bloomberg and Axios, President Donald Trump is actively weighing the option of deploying U.S. special forces — including Army Delta Force operators — directly into Iranian territory to seize the regime’s stockpile of near-bomb-grade uranium.
The revelation came as global markets plunged into chaos overnight. Dow futures crashed more than 1,100 points as Sunday evening trading opened, U.S. oil prices surged toward $120 a barrel, and Asian markets from Tokyo to Seoul recorded their worst single-day losses since the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is no longer just an air war. The question now gripping Washington, Jerusalem, and Tehran: Is America about to put boots on the ground in Iran?
The Nuclear Stockpile Problem
At the heart of the special forces discussion is a terrifying intelligence gap. Iran possesses approximately 450 kilograms of 60%-enriched uranium — material that could be converted to weapons-grade within weeks. U.S. officials have grown increasingly concerned that this stockpile may have been moved from known facilities in the opening days of the war.
Satellite imagery from early March confirmed that U.S. and Israeli airstrikes damaged entrance buildings at the Natanz Nuclear Facility and struck the Shahroud Missile Facility in Semnan Province. But damage to the surface doesn’t mean the underground stockpiles have been neutralized.
According to the New York Times, Iran could still access highly enriched uranium buried at the Isfahan nuclear site, a facility that came under intense bombardment during the initial strikes but whose deep underground chambers may remain intact.
The proposed mission, described by three diplomatic officials briefed on the matter, would involve special operators alongside nuclear scientists — possibly from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) — entering Iran to physically locate, secure, and remove the uranium. Two sources told Axios that such operations were part of a “menu of options” presented to Trump before the war began.
The targets would likely include the hardened facilities at Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan — some of the most heavily fortified installations on Earth.
Markets in Freefall
The special forces reports landed like a bomb on global financial markets already reeling from nine days of escalating conflict.
As of early Monday morning:
- Dow futures plunged 1,100 points as Sunday evening trading opened on Wall Street
- Brent crude surged past $110 a barrel, with U.S. WTI crude approaching $120 — the highest since the 2022 Russia-Ukraine spike
- Goldman Sachs warned oil could hit $150 a barrel by month’s end if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed
- South Korea’s KOSPI recorded its biggest single-day drop, while Japan’s Nikkei fell sharply
- Gas prices at the pump are expected to top $4 a gallon nationally, with some analysts projecting $5+ in coastal states
The Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil flows — has been effectively shut down since March 2 when the IRGC officially confirmed its closure and threatened any vessel attempting transit.
Gulf Arab states are now cutting production not by choice but because they are physically running out of storage space, with tankers refusing to transit the waterway for fear of Iranian attack.
G7 nations are now considering tapping emergency petroleum reserves — a measure last taken during Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine — according to CNBC.
Trump addressed the market chaos directly on Truth Social Sunday evening: “Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace.”
Seventh American Soldier Dies
The Pentagon confirmed Sunday that a seventh U.S. service member has been killed in action during Operation Epic Fury. The soldier had been seriously wounded during an Iranian attack on U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia on March 1 and succumbed to injuries on Saturday evening.
U.S. Central Command released a statement: “Last night, a U.S. service member passed away from injuries received during the Iranian regime’s initial attacks across the Middle East.”
Approximately a dozen additional U.S. troops were wounded in the same March 1 attack. The Pentagon has not released identifying information for any of the casualties.
Iran’s retaliatory strikes have been far less predictable than in past confrontations. Previously, Tehran gave advance warning before launching strikes and made known which bases it intended to target. Since Operation Epic Fury began, Iranian missile and drone attacks have been widespread, unpredictable, and aimed at both military and civilian infrastructure across the Gulf.
Trump and other administration officials have acknowledged publicly that they expect more American casualties as the campaign continues.
Trump Threatens Iran’s New Supreme Leader
The war’s political dimension escalated sharply over the weekend when Iran’s Assembly of Experts officially named Mojtaba Khamenei — the 55-year-old son of slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — as Iran’s third supreme leader.
The selection signals that Iran’s hardline establishment remains firmly in control despite the devastating military campaign against it. Mojtaba is widely believed to have deep ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which immediately pledged its support.
Trump’s response was characteristically blunt. In an ABC News interview, he declared: “If he doesn’t get approval from us, he’s not going to last long.”
Israel, which had warned ahead of the announcement that it would target whoever was chosen, has vowed to “hunt” Mojtaba Khamenei just as the initial strikes killed his father on February 28.
Trump also stated that ending the war would be a “mutual” decision with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — a remark that further blurred the line between U.S. and Israeli war objectives.
Strikes Expand to Oil Infrastructure and Holy Cities
The air campaign has entered what Iranian officials are calling a “dangerous new phase.”
On March 7, the combined U.S.-Israeli force expanded its target list for the first time to include Iranian oil production and storage facilities. The IDF confirmed strikes on two oil refineries and two oil storage facilities, causing massive fires and toxic smoke plumes that drifted across Tehran.
On March 9, explosions were reported in Qom — one of the holiest cities in Shia Islam — as well as continued bombardment of Tehran. The strikes on Qom carry enormous symbolic weight and risk inflaming sectarian tensions across the Muslim world.
Israeli strikes also destroyed the building where Iran’s Assembly of Experts was expected to convene on March 3 to select a new supreme leader, delaying the appointment by nearly a week.
Since the war began on February 28, Iran has launched over 500 ballistic and naval missiles and nearly 2,000 drones, according to Fars News Agency. Iran’s targets have included the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, the Port of Jebel Ali in the UAE, Erbil Airport in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, and even the UK’s RAF base in Cyprus.
What Comes Next
The next 48 to 72 hours could define the trajectory of this conflict. Several critical threads are converging:
1. The nuclear question: If Trump authorizes a ground operation to seize uranium, it would mark the first U.S. ground combat mission inside Iran and represent a massive escalation with unpredictable consequences.
2. Economic fallout: With oil above $110 and Goldman Sachs projecting $150, the economic shockwaves are no longer theoretical. American consumers are about to feel this war at the gas pump, the grocery store, and in their retirement accounts.
3. The new supreme leader: Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment means Iran has no intention of surrendering or negotiating on Trump’s terms. With the IRGC behind him, the war is likely to intensify from Iran’s side.
4. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf: The U.S. has ordered government employees to leave Saudi Arabia, and nearly 9,000 Americans have been evacuated from the Middle East since February 28. The Gulf states are caught between their American ally and the Iranian missiles raining down on their infrastructure.
CNN reported that Iranian intelligence has sent backchannel messages to the U.S., but officials say there are no negotiations underway and that potential “off-ramps” are unlikely to materialize in the near term.
Ten days in, Operation Epic Fury has killed a supreme leader, triggered the worst oil crisis since 2022, crashed global markets, and now threatens to put American special forces on Iranian soil. The question the world is asking: Where does this end?