Americans already feel economic pinch of Iran war, not just at the pump

The Consumer Price Index report found that inflation rose 0.9% in March, triple February’s rise of 0.3%. Year over year inflation in March was 3.3%, the highest year-on-year jump since summer 2024. Soaring gas prices was one of the biggest drivers of inflation, which Americans have already experienced. High fuel prices (particularly high diesel prices) are also gradually increasing the cost of transporting most consumer goods.

Experts say that this effect is likely to increase over the coming months, even if the war between the US and Iran does not resume. With the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut for weeks, a supply bottleneck for fuel as well as fertilizers has built up. Countries in the Far East are already experiencing fuel shortages and Europe may not be far behind. While no one is predicting such shortages in the US yet, the global supply chain disruption is likely to continue driving up fuel prices here, even if the Strait of Hormuz fully reopens.

Due to Israel’s continued bombing of Lebanon, Iran has again stopped traffic through the Strait of Hormuz despite the ceasefire. In a surprise announcement today, Israel and Lebanon announced they would be sending envoys to Washington, DC, next week to hammer out a peace agreement.

Vice President JD Vance is already heading to Islamabad, Pakistan, where high-stakes talks between the US and Iran will take place over the coming days. The hope is that these talks will lead to a lasting peace agreement. However, Iranian officials have said publicly that they distrust the US because the US has now attacked them twice in the past year while negotiations were underway.

New York Times details how Benjamin Netanyahu sold Trump on the Iran war.