Massive Drop! U.S. Military Ground Warfare Plan Revealed! Iran Warns: Will Respond Decisively

Iran War, spilling over into U.S. stock tech shares!

Last week, the combined market value of the U.S. “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks fell by nearly $860 billion. Among them, Meta’s single-week decline exceeded 11%, Google’s parent Alphabet fell by more than 8%, Microsoft dropped by more than 6%, while Nvidia and Amazon both fell by nearly 3%. Tesla slid 1.66%, and Apple edged up slightly by 0.33%.

Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz has driven oil prices soaring, further intensifying investors’ concerns about energy supplies. Investors expect that amid rising inflation expectations, the Federal Reserve will be unable to implement rate cuts this year, putting pressure on tech stocks.

Regarding the latest developments in the Iran situation, a U.S. media outlet reported on the 28th that the Pentagon is preparing for a “multi-week ground operation” in Iran. The report said that, unlike the full-scale invasion of the 2003 Iraq War, the Pentagon is using a “surgical strike decapitation” approach this time—neither taking territory nor fighting a prolonged war—aimed directly at Halk Island, the lifeline of Iran’s oil. It hopes to replicate the glory of the 1991 Gulf War with a “win-in-weeks” pace. In response, Meysbashi Moghaddam, a member of an Iranian expert meeting, said that if the United States tries to send troops to seize Iran’s island, Iran will carry out a “decisive counterstrike.”

Citing multiple Iranian media outlets including the Fars News Agency, Xinhua News Agency reported on the 29th that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran launched missiles and drones to strike two Middle East-area companies related to U.S. defense and aerospace industries.

It is worth noting that on local time on the 29th, Iran’s naval commander Shahram Irani said that Iran is monitoring in real time the location and movements of the U.S. “Lincoln” aircraft carrier group, as well as the requests it has made to countries in the region. Once the “Lincoln” carrier group enters Iran’s range, Iran will fire missiles.

U.S. military ground war plan for a “win-in-weeks” approach revealed

According to a report by Xinhua News Agency, the U.S. newspaper The Washington Post on the 28th cited statements from unnamed U.S. officials saying that the Pentagon is preparing for a “multi-week ground operation” in Iran.

The report believes that any potential ground operation would not be a full-scale invasion; it could be launched by a joint raid using special operations forces and conventional infantry units. Such a mission could expose the U.S. military to a range of threats from Iranian drones and missiles, ground fire, and improvised explosive devices. The report said it is still unclear how much U.S. President Donald Trump would approve the Pentagon’s action plan. If he “chooses to escalate the operation,” it would signal that the war is entering a “dangerous new phase,” and its danger to the U.S. military could be much higher than in the first four weeks.

Also, according to a report from Guoshi Zhitongche, unlike the full-scale invasion in the 2003 Iraq War, the Pentagon is using the “surgical strike decapitation” approach this time—neither taking territory nor fighting a prolonged war—aimed directly at Halk Island, the lifeline of Iran’s oil, attempting to replicate the glory of the 1991 Gulf War with a “win-in-weeks” pace. But will the U.S. military’s “old dream” really become reality this time? Multiple international media outlets and think tanks have repeatedly warned: believing the “42-day defeat of Iran” myth may drag the United States into a new strategic quagmire!

The Washington Post reported on the 28th that the Pentagon is preparing a limited ground operation lasting several weeks rather than an invasion involving full occupation. By now, thousands of Marines and paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division have deployed to the Middle East. Among them, about 3,500 personnel from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit are aboard the amphibious assault ship “Tripoli,” heading straight to the core waters of the Persian Gulf. The Wall Street Journal disclosed on the 26th that the U.S. military is considering sending additional ground combat troops of up to 10,000, covering infantry and armored forces. The total force size would be only a fraction—about one percent—of the scale of the million-strong troops deployed during the Iraq War, completely discarding the operational model of pressing in with a massive army at the time.

The Pentagon’s strategic intent is very clear: giving up a full-scale occupation that is costly and carries uncontrollable risk, and instead focusing on an “economic strangulation campaign.” Its core tactical objective is aimed directly at the oil-producing areas in the southwest of Iran and the throat of the Strait of Hormuz. It also targets Halk Island, the core hub for Iran’s crude oil exports. This island handles more than 90% of Iran’s crude oil export task, making it the lifeline of Iran’s economy.

A U.S. military operational plan exposed by foreign media on the 25th shows that controlling Halk Island would cut off 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports, paralyzing its national economy at the lowest possible military cost. Other foreign media said the plan explicitly sets invasion or blockade of Halk Island and control of the Strait of Hormuz as core tasks, with the action cycle set to several weeks rather than several months. CNN reported around the same time that Iran has noticed U.S. military movements; Iran has increased air defense units on Halk Island and laid defensive landmines to respond to a possible amphibious landing by U.S. forces. The U.S. military had previously carried out airstrikes against more than 90 military targets on the island while deliberately preserving oil infrastructure. This indicates that the move is preparing for subsequent efforts to seize control of the island.

Citing Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency on the 29th, Xinhua News Agency reported that Meysbashi Moghaddam, a member of the Iranian expert meeting, said that if the United States attempts to send troops to seize Iran’s islands, it will face Iran’s “decisive counterstrike.” Moghaddam said that over the past 30 days, Iranian people have continued to express support for Iran’s armed forces through gatherings and other means.

Also, according to CCTV News citing a report from Iran on March 29, Iran’s Islamic Majlis Speaker Mohammad Bagher Kalibaf said that while the United States is publicly talking up negotiations, behind the scenes it is secretly planning a ground offensive. Kalibaf said that Iran’s armed forces are “waiting” for the U.S. ground offensive and will “punish” its regional allies.

“Magnificent Seven” tech stocks shed $86 billion in a single week

Last week, the Iran war pushed up energy prices, and the resulting worry spread across the entire U.S. stock market. The Nasdaq index fell 3.23% in one week, the largest weekly drop since April 2025.

Large tech stocks took a heavy hit, mainly because the market was increasingly worried that higher inflation would keep interest rates at elevated levels for a longer period, and the specific headwinds faced by each company also weighed on the sector.

Overall, in the span of one week, the “Magnificent Seven” collectively wiped out more than $860 billion in market value.

Meta recorded its worst single-week performance since October 2025, with a drop of more than 11%. Earlier last week, the company lost a landmark social media lawsuit, and Wall Street is still digesting the impact of the case.

Google’s parent Alphabet closed down nearly 9% last week. A jury found that Meta and YouTube’s parent Alphabet were negligent for failing to protect young users on its platform.

Microsoft fell 6.5% last week, and it is on track to post its worst quarterly performance since 2008. The impact has been especially pronounced for software stocks.

Nvidia and Amazon both fell by about 3% last week. Over five trading days, Tesla’s decline was close to 2%.

Semiconductor stocks rebounded on Friday, but after Micron and SanDisk/WD (SanDisk) both sank sharply on Thursday, the group still ended last week lower.

Before this round of selloff, Google released new research describing an algorithm designed to reduce memory usage in artificial intelligence. This development has put pressure on memory chips and the broader semiconductor sector. However, some analysts say the market may be misreading it: the ultra-efficient AI memory compression algorithm mentioned in Google’s paper, TurboQuant, only applies to the key-value cache during inference, does not affect the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used by model weights, and is not related to AI training tasks.

With energy prices surging and inflation expectations heating up, bond yields rose, and growth stocks came under further pressure. Investors expect the Federal Reserve will not be able to implement rate cuts this year as previously expected.

Among the “Magnificent Seven,” the only stock that recorded a small gain last week was Apple. Earlier, there were reports that Apple plans to open its Siri voice assistant’s AI services to competitors’ services other than OpenAI’s ChatGPT, to surpass its current partnership arrangement.