Iran says it will not allow American warships into the Persian Gulf. The statement is a response to Donald Trump, who has not ruled out further airstrikes. The price of Brent crude jumped to about $117 a barrel.
Ali Abdollahi, chief of the general staff of Iran’s armed forces, said Saturday that Iran can attack any vessel in the region and that the U.S. Navy will not return to Iranian waters. “The U.S. president can only dream of his soldiers entering the Persian Gulf again,” he said.
The day before, at a rally in Florida, Trump said the U.S. military “could do another Epic Fury.” That was the name given to the airstrikes at the start of the war, which has been going on since Feb. 28, when the U.S. and Israel unexpectedly attacked Iran. The president is weighing whether to end the conflict quickly with a massive strike or to keep pressuring Tehran with a naval blockade and sanctions. Talks involving intermediaries have brought no breakthrough.
The situation is most dangerous in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a large share of the world’s oil passes. According to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, seven tankers were attacked or blown up by mines overnight Thursday, and on Friday two supertankers struck mines. Turkey warns that a new attack on Iran will widen the war.
For drivers in America, this is bad news: more expensive oil quickly translates into higher prices at the gas pump.
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