Oil prices just hit their highest level in six months, and Tehran wants you to blame Washington for it. On Friday, Brent crude briefly passed $117 a barrel after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claimed it had disabled seven tankers near the Strait of Hormuz. Rising oil prices are exactly what Iran wants two weeks before Americans vote.
Conservatives should see this for what it is. Iran is using the gas pump as a weapon, and the target is the American voter.
How High Oil Prices Climbed on Friday
The numbers are ugly. Brent futures gained $4.01, or about 3.5 percent, to $117.18 a barrel by midday Eastern time, Reuters reported. The session high of $117.38 was the highest since late April. Meanwhile, U.S. crude rose to about $103.
For context, Brent traded near $72 a barrel in February, before the Iran war began, according to The Guardian. It touched $126 by the end of April. It started October below $97, so this month alone has added about $20 a barrel.
Wall Street felt it, too. The Dow fell about 550 points by late morning, and three of every four stocks in the S&P 500 were down, CBS News reported.
What Iran Claims It Did in Hormuz
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said four tankers were hit and caught fire while transferring oil. It said three more struck mines in the shipping lanes the U.S. has urged ships to use. Al Jazeera noted that the claims could not be independently verified.
Then the threats got bigger. The Guard warned that the conflict could “extend to” U.S. bases in the region if America keeps helping tankers through the strait. Tehran also said it would hit Gulf oil facilities, undersea cables, and data centers if a new U.S.-Israeli offensive begins.
Why Iran Wants Higher Oil Prices Before Election Day
Timing tells the story. President Trump said Thursday that Iran is lying about the ship attacks to push up energy prices before the midterms, CBS reported. Whether every claimed hit is real or not, the strategy is plain. Tehran cannot win a fight with the U.S. Navy, so it is trying to win one at your local gas station.
That is why the response matters. If higher prices at the pump push America into backing off, Iran learns that terror on the water pays. Every hostile regime with a coastline will take note.
Still, the pain is real, and conservatives should not wave it away. Fuel costs hit farmers, truckers, and working families first. A family budget does not care about grand strategy. That is why the home front matters as much as the strait.
The Answer to High Oil Prices Is American Energy
The best defense against a cartel of bad actors is more American supply. That is why we backed the move to draft American oil into national defense. It is also why permitting reform, new pipelines, and refinery capacity are national security issues, not just business issues.
Our allies are adapting too. Saudi Aramco said Thursday that flows through its East-West pipeline, which bypasses Hormuz, have more than tripled to 7 million barrels a day. Even so, the region is far from calm. The Houthis forced Aramco to evacuate its headquarters this week.
What Comes Next
Analysts quoted by The Guardian said markets fear U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran’s energy sites after the Nov. 3 election. At the same time, U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz has said the war could last another year. In short, nobody should expect relief at the pump soon.
Here is the bottom line. Iran is betting that Americans will blame their own leaders for prices that Tehran is driving up on purpose. The smart response is to keep the sea lanes open, pump more at home, and refuse to reward blackmail.
