Nicole Lapin

I'm Nicole Lapin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand.

It's time for some money real.

I want to talk about what's happening between the U.S., Israel, and Iran, because what's going on in the Middle East right now is going to hit your wallet hard.

The U.S.

and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran on Saturday, February 28th, and the operation killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ruled Iran for the last three decades.

His defense minister, the commander of the revolutionary

Guard and dozens of other senior officials were also killed.

Iran has since fired back with waves of missiles and drones targeting U.S.

bases across the region and Israeli cities.

This is the biggest military event the Middle East has seen in a generation, and it has implications for the global economy that we need to know right now.

But first, let's unwind the chain reaction that got us here.

The U.S.

and Iran have been locked in a standoff over Iran's nuclear program for decades now.

The real modern flashpoint came in 2018 when President Trump pulled the U.S.

out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which had capped Iran's uranium enrichment at a low-grade civilian grade, which is under 4%.

After the deal collapsed, Iran began ramping up its enrichment, reaching 60% purity last year.

For context, weapons-grade uranium is about 90%, so the gap is closing.

Then in June, Israel launched a major airstrike campaign against Iranian nuclear and military facilities.

On June 22nd, the U.S.

joined in, striking three of Iran's major nuclear sites.