After coming down from over $4 per gallon, gas prices again ticked up Thursday following President Donald Trump’s announcement that the ceasefire agreement with Iran is over.
AAA data showed that national average pre-gallon gas prices were at approximately $3.85 Thursday, up slightly compared to $3.80 on Wednesday. While speaking to reporters at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit Wednesday, Trump acknowledged that continued fighting between the U.S. and Iran would cause prices to go up again.
“I’m their number one target,” said Trump of Iran. “Because they’re scum, that’s the way they act.”
According to ABC News, that’s not the only time he referred to Iranian leadership as scum this week. It said he also referred to them as “scum” and “sick people,” when he told reporters, he’s not interested in negotiating with them anymore.
Iran and the U.S. have had a tense relationship since the 1979 Iranian Revolution that overthrew a pro-U.S. government in the country and replaced it with an Islamic Republic. Since Hamas, a Palestine-based military group funded by Iran, attacked U.S. ally Israel and set off the Israel-Hamas war in 2023, tension in the area has increased. This February, Trump announced that the U.S. had joined Israel to attack Iran.
While Trump said U.S. action in the area was expected to be short lived, the conflict has dragged on for months. This has included a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a key transportation route for the world’s oil, and increased gas prices globally. As gas prices climbed in the U.S., Trump’s approval rating faltered. His administration even announced “Freedom Fuel” stations selling gas for under the national average this week.
Still, he’s made it a goal to force Iran to abandon its nuclear energy program, a request that Iran has skirted during peace deals. Before the July 4 holiday, Trump announced that the two countries had finally come to an agreement over a peace deal that included opening the Strait of Hormuz. That delicate agreement is now over, he confirmed this week.
“I’m not sure I want to make a deal with them,” Trump said during the NATO summit. “We can play games, but I’m not sure I want to make a deal. Let’s just finish the job.”
ABC News noted Wednesday that the U.S., Qatar and Saudi Arabia have attributed fresh attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz to Iranian forces but that the allegations were denied by Tehran. According to ABC, “intermittent exchanges of fire have continued between the U.S. and Iran despite the signing of the MOU in June.”
In a Wednesday X post, U.S. Central Command said that “forces have started conducting additional strikes against Iran to further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,” and that the U.S. is “holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway.”
Iran then launched missiles and drones toward American military bases in four Middle Eastern countries Thursday, the New York Post reported. It said these strikes followed “a second night of U.S. strikes on the Islamic Republic.”
When asked why he pivoted from being willing to work with the Iranians to being doubtful of any peace deal, Trump told reporters: “I got to know them.”
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament who has been serving as Tehran's chief peace negotiator, said in a Wednesday X post: “Don’t flail around pointlessly, or you’ll sink even deeper: the Strait of Hormuz will only open with ‘Iranian arrangements,’ not American threats.”
Even though Trump said the previous agreement with Iran is over, he didn’t entirely rule out further peace negotiations.
“I’ll let our wonderful negotiators keep talking if they want, but I don’t see it," Trump said, according to ABC News.
After coming down, gas prices went up again Thursday
After coming down, gas prices went up again Thursday
