Rubio insists US is ‘very fortunate’ as Iran war pushes gas price near $4.50 | US news
Marco Rubio argued that the United States is in a “very fortunate” position as fuel prices continue to rise across the country amid the disruption caused by the US-Israeli war against Iran.
With average US fuel prices now approaching $4.50 per gallon (the highest level in four years), the US Secretary of State was asked on Tuesday how long Americans should accept those levels.
Other countries are “suffering greatly,” Rubio said. He said the United States is “very lucky” as a net oil exporter and is not as dependent on oil from the Middle East as other countries.
“We are isolated to some extent,” Rubio added. “Obviously we’re vulnerable to some degree to global prices. But ultimately we’re more isolated from other countries — although that’s unwelcome news for Americans who pay more at the pump, there’s no doubt about that.”
“There are people at this point who we predict will be much higher,” he claimed, “but we’re not taking that for granted.”
Global oil prices have risen since February 28, when the US and Israel first attacked Iran. The Strait of Hormuz, which usually carries one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquid gas resources, has since been almost completely closed, causing major economic disruption worldwide.
Average fuel prices in the U.S. currently stand at $4.48 per gallon, according to AAA, frustrating drivers and raising affordability concerns. A year ago, that figure was just under $3.17.
From the first days of the war, Americans vented their anger over rising fuel prices on gas station forecourts. “I don’t care about Iran,” Kevin Dass, an underemployed father of two in Detroit, told the Guardian in March. “I don’t want to pay more for gas.”
Rubio claimed that fuel prices would be even higher (he predicted, without citing evidence, at around $8 or $9 per gallon) if Iran had a nuclear weapon and decided to close the Strait of Hormuz. “An Iran with nuclear weapons can do whatever it wants in the straits and there is nothing anyone can do about it,” he said.
