Breaking! Iran launches a large-scale attack! Protests erupt in the U.S., with nearly 9 million participants

New developments in the situation in Iran!

On the 29th local time, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated that it conducted “precision strikes” on several U.S. military facilities in the Middle East and the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet facilities early that morning.

On the same day, the Iranian military released announcement No. 47, stating that starting from the early hours of the 29th, it carried out large-scale drone attacks on U.S. equipment warehouses and personnel camps located at the Al-Azraq base in Jordan.

According to Xinhua News Agency, protests erupted in multiple locations across the U.S. on the 28th. Millions of people took to the streets to express dissatisfaction with the U.S. government’s immigration enforcement and a series of policies, calling for an end to military strikes against Iran. Organizers estimated that over 3,100 protests were held nationwide that day, covering all 50 states and major cities such as Washington, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Boston. Media estimates indicated participation reached 9 million people.

Iran launches the 86th wave of offensive

According to Xinhua News Agency, the public relations department of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps released a statement on the 29th saying that Iran launched the 86th wave of “Real Commitment-4” operations early that morning, conducting “precision strikes” on several U.S. military facilities in the Middle East and the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet facilities.

The statement mentioned that this operation was initiated jointly by the aerospace and naval forces of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, targeting U.S. military facilities located at the Arifjan base in Kuwait, a base in Ha’il, Saudi Arabia, and Tel Aviv, Israel, with targets including air combat facilities, drone systems, and more.

Additionally, according to CCTV International News, Israeli rescue services reported that the industrial area of Nitzan near Beersheba in southern Israel caught fire after being hit by the latest Iranian ballistic missile attack on the afternoon of the 29th. Furthermore, while being attacked by Iranian missiles, Hezbollah in Lebanon also launched rockets at northern Israeli towns, triggering air defense alarms.

On the same day, the Israel Defense Forces announced that since the early hours of the 29th, Iran had launched five ballistic missile attacks on Israel, with no casualties reported so far.

Moreover, the Israel Defense Forces stated on the 29th that the Israeli Air Force had overnight attacked a significant base of the Iranian Ministry of Defense located in Tehran, which is used for producing key components for ballistic missiles. The Israel Defense Forces also targeted several other weapons production bases, including the Iranian Ministry of Defense’s ballistic missile engine production facility, weapons production and storage bases, and drone engine production bases.

According to a report by Xinhua News Agency citing the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting on the 29th, a spokesperson for the Iranian Armed Forces’ Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters issued a warning, stating that U.S. President Trump’s threats regarding ground operations in Iran would only lead U.S. troops into a “deep abyss of imprisonment and death.”

The statement said that in response to Trump’s recent threats of launching ground operations against Iran and occupying some of its islands, the Iranian military is ready for combat. “The sharks of the Persian Gulf are waiting for U.S. soldiers.” Trump’s erroneous decisions will lead U.S. troops “into a quagmire of death.”

According to reports from U.S. media recently, the Pentagon is preparing for a “weeks-long ground operation” in Iran. It is currently unclear to what extent Trump will approve the Pentagon’s operational plans. If he “chooses to escalate operations,” it would mark a “dangerous new phase” in the war.

War may impact the U.S. job market

Last year, job growth in the U.S. was sluggish, but signs of stabilization have begun to appear. Now, a war thousands of miles away not only interrupts this potential progress but may further derail the labor market.

Since the U.S. and Israel began strikes against Iran, four weeks have passed. The economic ripple effects of this escalating and deadly conflict have quickly manifested: key shipping routes have been blocked, leading to soaring oil prices, disrupted supply chains, and rising gasoline prices. Inflation concerns have intensified, and uncertainty has risen accordingly. It is this dynamic that has stifled the vitality of the labor market.

According to CNN, Heather Long, chief economist at the U.S. Navy Federal Credit Union, stated, “If the Strait of Hormuz remains closed and oil prices stay above $100 per barrel during April, I think that will change the landscape. We will then face a very different economic situation, and layoffs will become a topic again.” This weak, feeble dynamic of “low hiring and low firing” in the labor market is expected to persist, at least for now.

“Uncertainty is delaying rather than canceling hiring plans,” said Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY-Parthenon. Daco currently expects an “unemployment-less” economic expansion, with job growth of about 20,000 per month in the first half of the year and an unemployment rate (currently at 4.4%) gradually rising to around 4.7% by the end of the year.

“Given the recession probability at around 40%, the risk is that the long pause in hiring will ultimately evolve into more apparent weakness,” Daco stated. Currently, the market is still cooling down, with no cracks yet appearing. However, if uncertainty escalates again, these cracks may surface by late spring.

In fact, even excluding recession years, last year was one of the weakest years for the U.S. labor market in decades. The latest official estimates indicate that the U.S. economy added only 116,000 jobs in 2025. In comparison, the economy added an average of about 121,000 jobs per month in 2024, a growth rate in line with historical averages.

However, there was previously some optimism that job growth would not be so bleak this year. At that time, inflation was expected to ease, the three rate cuts by the end of 2025 were expected to transmit through the overall economy, and new tax laws were anticipated to stimulate consumer spending and business investment. Additionally, the largest uncertainty factor—greater clarity for businesses regarding the economy, borrowing costs, tariffs, and other federal policies, technological advancements, and geopolitical developments—was also expected to dissipate.

However, the new conflict in the Middle East has instead exacerbated this uncertainty. “In our data, we haven’t seen any signs that lead us to believe that the U.S. job market is either significantly warming up or sharply deteriorating,” said Laura Ulrich, director of economic research at Indeed Hiring Lab. The situation still appears relatively stable but stagnant.

Since the outbreak of the Iran war, oil prices have surged, rising by about $30 per barrel (at one point increasing by $50). Economists indicate that every $10 increase in oil prices will have significant economic consequences, from dragging down U.S. GDP growth to pushing up inflation.

Some impacts have already directly affected U.S. consumers. Data from the American Automobile Association shows that average gasoline prices in the U.S. have risen by $1 from pre-war averages, reaching $3.98 per gallon. Higher energy costs (gasoline, heating, utilities) could cause households to lose over $1,350 in annual income.

Cost increases are expected to extend beyond this. The OECD’s latest forecast suggests that the U.S. inflation rate could rise to 4.2% this year (measured by the consumer price index, which was 2.4% in February).

Economists are closely monitoring the capacity of U.S. consumers to cope with rising gasoline prices and the potential spillover into the costs of goods and services throughout the economy. Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of economic activity, so a decline in consumer spending would pose challenges for the U.S. labor market.

There are concerns that if gasoline prices continue to rise, it may weaken the fiscal stimulus effects of the tax cuts brought by the Inflation Reduction Act. Economists at JPMorgan estimate that this could happen if the national average gasoline price approaches or exceeds $5 per gallon. In California and Washington, gasoline prices have already surpassed $5 per gallon.

Editor: Wang Lulu

Typesetting: Liu Junyu

Proofreading: Wang Chaoquan