U.S. forces struck more than 170 targets across Iran over two days, hitting air defense systems, drone and missile storage sites, and military speedboats in the most extensive American military action inside the country in years. The operation signals a shift from limited retaliatory strikes to a sustained campaign aimed at degrading Tehran's ability to project power across the region.

Oil markets reacted immediately, with Brent crude climbing above $75 a barrel as traders priced in the risk of supply disruption through the Strait of Hormuz. Shipping insurers have begun adjusting war-risk premiums for vessels transiting the Gulf, while defense contractors including RTX and Lockheed Martin saw pre-market gains on expectations of accelerated missile-defense orders from regional partners.

Iran's air defense network — built around Russian S-300 batteries and domestic Bavar-373 systems — absorbed the brunt of the initial wave, but the loss of mobile launch platforms and coastal attack craft limits its capacity to threaten commercial shipping lanes in the near term. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps retains substantial missile inventory dispersed across hardened sites, preserving a credible deterrent.

The scale of the targeting package — 170-plus sites across multiple provinces — suggests U.S. planners prepared for a multi-day operation rather than a single punitive raid. Investors should track supplemental defense appropriations moving through Congress, reinsurance capacity for Gulf trade routes, and any Iranian proxy response that could draw Israel into direct confrontation.