Iran sanctions, a Wall Street drop and Micron's $10bn AI bet — 21 August 2026

Three developments to start the global morning.

Washington re-designated Hezbollah for acting on Iran’s behalf and sanctioned ten accused cash couriers. The move freezes assets and cuts banks off. 1

Wall Street fell Thursday: the Dow lost 1.32 percent, the S&P 500 0.87 percent, and Walmart sank 9.2 percent after a sales miss. 2

Micron will spend $10 billion on a Boise research lab over the next decade, betting AI demand keeps memory chips central to data centres. 3