DUBAI\/CAIRO\/GARDEN CITY, New York
\nIran called on the U.S. to \u200baccept defeat on Saturday, while President Donald Trump blasted Tehran as \u201cvery evil\u201d and told Americans to prepare for continued high fuel prices as a result of the war.
\nProgress towards \u200cpeace talks and oil tanker traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz remained halted, with no sign the warring parties were moving toward ending the conflict that the U.S. and Israel launched on February 28.
\n\u201cThis strait will be opened and closed only under Iran\u2019s 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,\u201d Iran\u2019s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi posted on X.<\/p>\n
U.S. GASOLINE UP 29% \u200bON YEAR, IRAN ALSO FEELS IMPACT
\nForeign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Iran had not decided to resume talks with the U.S. He told Iranian news outlet Shahrara News in an interview published on \u200bSaturday that Washington must meet conditions on the strait in order for shipping to resume in the waterway that handled one-fifth of the world\u2019s oil before the war.
\nTrump urged Americans to accept slightly higher gasoline prices while the conflict continues.
\nHe told a political rally in Garden City, New York, on Friday that paying \u201ca tiny little bit more for your gasoline\u201d is \u200bworth the cost of ensuring \u201ca very evil country\u201d could not have a nuclear weapon, one of his stated rationales for the war.
\n\u201cAfter we finish defeating Iran … pretty soon I\u2019ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a \u200bterritory of the United States,\u201d said Trump.
\nThroughout the conflict, the president has alternated between threats of escalation and assertions that a peace deal is imminent.
\nIn a trend that has sparked inflation and disappointed voters, the average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline was about $4.08 on Friday, up 29% from a year earlier, according to the American Automobile Association.
\nTrump, a Republican, campaigned for reelection on a promise to lower energy costs, and Democrats are seeking to make the war\u2019s fallout \u200ban issue in November congressional elections.
\nCrude oil futures rose $1 a barrel on Friday. Benchmark Brent futures were on track for a weekly rise of 6.0% and West Texas Intermediate 5.4%.
\nTehran, too, has stepped up \u200bits rhetoric in recent days as attempts to bring a permanent end to the war appear deadlocked.
\n\u201cThe Strait of Hormuz cannot be seized by a tweet or an aircraft carrier, by issuing an order or by delivering an \u200celection speech,\u201d Gharibabadi said.
\nDespite Iran\u2019s defiant tone, though, there were also signs of an economic toll there.
\nPresident Masoud Pezeshkian, in remarks on state television, blamed high inflation on a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and sanctions on Iran\u2019s oil exports.<\/p>\n
NO CRUDE OIL VESSELS TRANSITING STRAIT
\nTrump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent each pledged to inflict more financial damage on Iran. Bessent told Newsmax\u2019s \u201cRob Schmitt Tonight\u201d program on Thursday that announcements of more measures against Iran were coming next week.
\nTehran calls its enforcement of strait traffic a blockade \u2013 the term Washington uses for its threat against Iranian vessels leaving their ports.
\n\u201cWhat we\u2019re doing is a great service for the world, not \u200bonly for ourselves … and we\u2019re really doing a great \u200bjob,\u201d Trump said.
\nOnly two vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Friday with no crude oil shipments visible, according to analysis from ship-tracking firm Kpler. Some ships may cross the strait undetected with their transponders off, but the figures are nowhere near the more than 130 ships that traversed it daily before the war.
\nVessels that dare navigate the strait \u200bwithout Iranian permission risk missile or drone strikes.
\nThe UAE accused Iran of attacking a third vessel operated by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company that was transiting the \u200bstrait on Friday, the Emirati state news agency WAM reported, after blaming it for two other incidents involving ADNOC vessels in the strait on Thursday evening.
\nThe United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre reported a bulk carrier was struck in the hull by an unknown projectile in the strait on Friday. It was not immediately clear if it was referring to the same incident involving the ADNOC vessel.
\nA tentative June deal to end the war is in tatters.
\n\u201cWe did not have a ceasefire \u200bin the first place that we would now want to extend,\u201d Araqchi said. \u201cWe had \u2018the end of the war,\u2019 and now \u200bthere is a new situation.\u201d
\nAttacks by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen renewed concerns about a widening regional war. Yemen\u2019s internationally recognised government said the Houthis fired six ballistic missiles at the Red Sea port of Mocha on Friday, killing four civilians.
\nReporting by Menna Alaa El Din \u200band Enas Alashray in Cairo, Humeyra Pamuk in Garden City, New York, and Jarrett Renshaw in Washington; Writing by Daniel Trotta, William Mallard and Alex Richardson; Editing by Sergio Non, Cynthia Osterman and Alexander Smith<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DUBAI\/CAIRO\/GARDEN CITY, New York Iran called on the U.S. to \u200baccept defeat on Saturday, while President Donald Trump blasted Tehran as \u201cvery evil\u201d and told Americans to prepare for continued high fuel prices as a result of the war. Progress towards \u200cpeace talks and oil tanker traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz remained halted, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562142,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-562155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n