Vice President JD Vance is once again pinning painful gas prices squarely on Iran, telling reporters on an airport tarmac that Americans need to brace for a long stretch of elevated costs at the pump. "I think we all have to accept that so long as the Iranians are trying to terrorize international shipping, we of course are gonna try to push back against that, but that is why gas prices are so high," Vance said. He pointed to repeated Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, even after Tehran had previously agreed to halt them, as the direct cause of the price pressure rippling through US markets.

Vance has leaned on this explanation for months as gas prices have climbed steadily since the war with Iran began, framing the US Navy's presence in the Gulf as essential to keeping oil flowing rather than optional. He has argued that without American intervention, Iran would effectively choke off the Strait of Hormuz entirely, a chokepoint through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil normally passes, and that the alternative to today's higher prices is a far more severe global energy crisis. Vance has previously called the price spikes a "temporary blip" and predicted costs would ease once the conflict winds down, though he has also acknowledged a "rough road ahead" for consumers in the meantime. With Iranian strikes on shipping continuing sporadically even amid periods of relative calm, the administration's timeline for relief at the pump remains an open question.