Dubai/Cairo/New York: Iran has told Washington to concede defeat and end its campaign, even as President Donald Trump branded Tehran “very evil” and warned Americans to prepare for persistently high fuel prices because of the war, Reuters reported.
Efforts to restart peace talks and oil tanker traffic through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz remain stalled, with no sign both the warring sides being close to ending the conflict that the US and Israel launched on February 28.
‘Strait Opens Only Under Iran’s Command’
“This strait will be opened and closed only under Iran’s command, and so long as you do not accept the reality of defeat and stop indulging in fantasies, Iran will continue to enforce the blockade,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi wrote on X early on Saturday.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Iran has not decided to resume negotiations with the US. In an interview published on Saturday with Iranian outlet Shahrara News, he said Washington must meet conditions on the strait before shipping can resume in the waterway that handled one-fifth of the world’s oil before the war.
US Gasoline Up 29% On Year
Trump urged Americans to accept slightly higher gasoline prices while the conflict with Iran continues.
At a political rally in Garden City, New York, on Friday, he said paying “a tiny little bit more for your gasoline” is worth the cost of ensuring “a very evil country” could not have a nuclear weapon, reiterating one of the president’s principal rationales for the war.
In a trend that has triggered inflation and disappointed voters, the average US price of a gallon of gasoline was about $4.08 on Friday, a 29% hike from a year earlier, according to the American Automobile Association.
Trump, a Republican, secured reelection on a promise to cut energy costs, yet Democrats aim to make the war’s economic impact a key issue in November’s congressional polls.
Crude futures gained $1 a barrel Friday, with Brent set for a 6.0% weekly rise and West Texas Intermediate up 5.4% for the week.
‘Strait Cannot Be Seized By A Tweet’
“The Strait of Hormuz cannot be seized by a tweet or an aircraft carrier, by issuing an order or by delivering an election speech,” Gharibabadi said.
Despite Iran’s tone of defiance, there were indications of an economic fallout in the country too.
On state television, President Masoud Pezeshkian attributed soaring inflation to the US blockade of Iranian ports and sanctions targeting Iran’s oil exports.
Crude Traffic Through Hormuz Stops
Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent vowed further financial damage to Iran, with Bessent telling Newsmax’s “Rob Schmitt Tonight” on Thursday that more measures would be announced next week.
Tehran frames its grip on strait traffic as a blockade, even as Washington applies the same label to its own warnings against Iranian ships trying to exit port.
Trump defended the US posture, saying: “What we’re doing is a great service for the world, not only for ourselves … and we’re really doing a great job.” He added that a 260-day deployment by a U.S. aircraft carrier backing the war effort was “not nearly long enough.”
Marine traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has nearly dried up. According to Kpler, a ship-tracking analytics firm, just two vessels were recorded passing through on Friday, with no crude oil shipments in sight.
Some ships may evade detection by switching off transponders, but the tally is a steep drop from the more than 130 daily transits before the war.
Ships that try to cross without Iranian clearance face the threat of missile or drone attacks. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company said two of its vessels were hit while transiting the strait on Thursday evening, and the UAE’s state news agency WAM reported another attack on a vessel on Friday.
A tentative June agreement to end the war has now unraveled.
“We did not have a ceasefire in the first place that we would now want to extend,” Araqchi said. “We had ‘the end of the war,’ and now there is a new situation.”
Fears of a broader regional conflict have also intensified. Yemen’s internationally recognised government said Iran-backed Houthi forces fired six ballistic missiles at the Red Sea port of Mocha on Friday, killing four civilians.
The Houthi-run SABA news agency, quoting a military source, said the group had also struck an Aramco facility in the Saudi city of Najran with a drone.
