Iran Defies US on Strait of Hormuz as Gas Prices Soar

The ongoing conflict between Iran and the US has led to a stalemate in negotiations, with no clear indication of when shipping through the Strait of Hormuz will resume. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said that Tehran would determine when the strategic waterway would be opened, rejecting US pressure and showing little urgency about restoring shipping to prewar levels.

According to analysis by ship-tracking firm Kpler, only two vessels passed through the strait on Friday, while about one in five barrels of the world's oil exports passed through the strait before the war. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian blamed high inflation on a US blockade of Iranian ports and sanctions on Iranian oil exports.

US President Donald Trump urged Americans to accept higher gasoline prices as the cost of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, one of his stated rationales for the war. The average US price of gasoline stood at about $4.08 a gallon on Friday, up 29% from $3.16 a year earlier.