US Diesel Hits Record $5.85 Amid Iran War — SkimNews
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- Diesel reached an all-time US average of $5.85 per gallon on Friday (AAA), surpassing the previous peak set in June 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine.
- Gasoline hit $4.14 per gallon Friday — a Labor Day weekend record, with AAA noting the national average has never topped $4 on the holiday.
- AAA blamed "continued volatility in the Strait of Hormuz" for crude trading near $90 per barrel; gas was below $3 before the US joined Israel in strikes on Iran, after which Tehran shut the strait.
- Trump and Vance both claimed Thursday that US forces now control Hormuz — Trump posting that 18 million barrels pass through daily and Vance saying Iran's control is "effectively gone."
- Iran rejected those claims, accused the US of market manipulation, and insisted the strait remains under Tehran's control; suspected Iranian strikes on ships have continued almost daily, including a Saudi tanker attack this week that killed two sailors.
- The price spike lands weeks before November midterms where the Iran war remains unpopular with voters and cost of living has emerged as a top electoral issue.
- Trump on Wednesday suggested renaming the waterway "Trump Strait" and previously said it would become American territory.
Why it matters: Consumers and freight-dependent industries eat the cost spike weeks before midterm elections, where polls show the Iran war is unpopular and cost of living is the top voter issue — handing Democrats a live cudgel against Republicans who simultaneously claim Hormuz is "effectively" under US control while oil and pump prices sit at war-era highs.
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