Iran defiant on strait as Trump tells Americans to accept high gas prices

DUBAI/CAIRO/GARDEN CITY, New York, - Iran called on the U.S. to accept defeat while President Donald Trump blasted Tehran as "very evil" and told Americans to brace for continued high fuel prices as a result of the war.

Progress toward peace talks and oil tanker traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway remained halted, with no sign the warring parties were moving toward ending the conflict that the U.S. and Israel launched on February 28.

"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 posted on X early on Saturday.

U.S. ‌GASOLINE UP 29% ON YEAR, ⁠IRAN ALSO ⁠FEELS IMPACT

Foreign 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 Saturday that Washington must meet conditions on the ​strait in order for shipping to resume in the waterway that handled one-fifth of the world's oil before the war.

Trump urged Americans to accept slightly higher gasoline prices while the conflict ​with Iran continues.

He told a political rally in Garden City, New York, on Friday that 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, one of the president's stated rationales for the war.

In 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.

Trump, a Republican, campaigned for reelection on a promise to lower energy costs, and Democrats are seeking to make the war's fallout ​an issue in November ​congressional elections.

Crude 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%.

"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 defiant tone, though, there were signs ​of an economic toll there too.

President Masoud Pezeshkian, in remarks on state television, blamed high inflation on a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and sanctions on Iran's oil exports.

NO CRUDE OIL VESSELS TRANSITING STRAIT

Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent each pledged to inflict more financial damage on Iran. Bessent told Newsmax's "Rob Schmitt Tonight" program on Thursday that announcements of more measures against Iran were coming next week.

Tehran calls its enforcement of strait traffic a blockade - the term Washington uses for its threat against Iranian vessels leaving their ports.

"What we're doing is a great service for the world, not only for ourselves ... and we're really doing a great job," Trump said, adding that a 260-day deployment by a ‌U.S. aircraft carrier supporting the war effort was "not nearly long enough."

Only 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.

Vessels that dare navigate the strait without Iranian permission risk missile or drone strikes. The United Arab Emirates' Abu Dhabi National Oil Company said two of its vessels were attacked transiting the strait on Thursday evening, and the Emirati state news agency WAM reported another vessel came under attack on Friday.

A tentative June ​deal to end the war is in tatters.

"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."

Attacks by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen renewed concerns about a widening regional war. Yemen's internationally recognised government said the Houthis fired six ballistic missiles at the Red Sea port of Mocha on Friday, killing four civilians.

The Houthi-run SABA news agency cited a military source as saying the group had targeted an Aramco facility in the Saudi city of Najran with a drone.