Iran parl. speaker warns Americans will be ‘nostalgic’ for cheap gasoline as US threa
Iran parl. speaker warns Americans will be ‘nostalgic’ for cheap gasoline as US threatens naval blockade
M.U.H
13/04/202627
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has issued a warning to Americans to “enjoy” today’s gas prices, adding that they will soon be “nostalgic” for $4–$5 per gallon fuel as the United States threatens to impose a naval blockade on Iranian ports.
Qalibaf’s remarks came in direct response to President Donald Trump’s order on Sunday for the US Navy to block the Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping lane for oil and gas.
Trump announced the blockade after high-level peace talks in Islamabad failed to produce a deal.
The average price of regular gasoline in the U.S. currently stands at $4.125 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association.
That figure is already up more than 40 percent from pre-war levels of $2.98, and experts warn prices could climb further if the blockade disrupts global energy markets.
Tehran has been restricting passage through the Strait of Hormuz since the US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran began on February 28.
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy announced last week that the strait “will never return to its former state, especially for the US and Israel”.
Iran has allowed vessels serving neutral countries, such as China, to pass, while barring ships affiliated with aggressor nations and their supporters.
The Iranian parliament has advanced draft legislation to impose transit fees in the national currency and explicitly ban US and Israeli vessels.
US Central Command said the blockade will apply to vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports on the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern Time on Monday.
Trump also threatened to interdict any vessel in international waters that has paid a toll to Iran.
Iran’s IRGC has warned that any military vessels approaching the strait would be met with “decisive force” and that the waterway remains under Iranian control.
The economic pain of the war is already being felt by American consumers.
Inflation in March rose 0.9 percent, driven largely by energy prices, with gasoline jumping 21.2 percent in a single month, the largest increase since 1967.
Trump admitted on Sunday that gas prices may not fall before the November midterm elections.
“It could be the same or maybe a little bit higher,” he told Fox News.
His approval rating has dropped three points as voters grow wary of the war’s economic toll.
