Donald Trump strike on Iran looms as experts fear fuel price hell could cripple Britain | World | News
British motorists have been told to be prepared for rising fuel prices and a rise in inflation if US President Donald Trump launches an attack on Iran. Brent crude rose above $71 a barrel this week, its highest level since July 2025, after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for 20% of global oil.
Experts fear a US strike could send prices soaring towards $110, curbing the recent slump in Britain’s oil costs and threatening the fragile 3% inflation rate. Mr Trump, who has been pushing for a nuclear deal, sent a second aircraft carrier to the region after reports that he was weighing strike options with his advisers.
US media have suggested the strike could happen as early as Saturday, but one analyst predicts the strike will wait until after Sunday’s Winter Olympics closing ceremony to prevent the Milan games from going any further.
Last summer, American forces bombed three Iranian nuclear facilities during a 12-day war launched by Israel. Now, with diplomacy in the Swiss talks shaky, Middle Eastern countries are bracing for potential regional chaos if the talks collapse.
Tony Redondo, founder of Newquay-based Cosmos Currency Exchange, warned: “Brent crude oil prices have risen above $71 a barrel… and a more permanent disruption to traffic could see crude prices rise above $110 a barrel.
“This would put an immediate end to the recent slump in oil prices in the UK as retailers shift the costs to drivers. Beyond the pump, a rise in energy prices could reignite inflation and potentially force the Bank of England to maintain higher interest rates. The ‘runoff effect’ would mean higher transport costs for food and goods, slowing global GDP growth.”
Mr. Redondo said the talks offered “slim hope” of reducing tensions, but added that the military build-up signaled a shift toward “maximum pressure” that could “destabilize global markets.”
Riz Malik, director at Southend-on-Sea-based R3 Wealth, said: “Global instability often leads to a flight to safe assets, leading to short-term selling in stocks and a move into precious metals such as gold, where demand is often increasing. A conflict during Ramadan will increase political tensions with neighboring countries.”
Rohit Parmar-Mistry, founder of Burton-on-Trent-based Pattrn Data, branded the strike an “economic wrecking ball”: “Sudden loss? A desperately needed drop in UK oil prices. Any prolonged campaign in the Gulf will send crude oil soaring and the pain will hit the pumps immediately. But it doesn’t stop at oil. Sudden energy costs will ripple through the supply chain and reignite inflation that ordinary people are already struggling to survive.”
Fink Money founder and trader David Belle linked the timing to the Olympics: “There’s an interesting relationship between the Winter Olympics and conflicts… I think we’ll see a strike right after the closing ceremony or in the days following it.”
Mr. Trump has stepped up pressure since returning to the White House, moving military assets to the Persian Gulf and threatening attacks over Iran’s crackdown on protesters or mass executions. It restarted nuclear talks last year that were disrupted by the June war, but progress has stalled.
An agreement could not be reached in two rounds held in Oman and Geneva. Mr. Trump demands zero uranium enrichment; While Iran insists on focusing solely on its own program, President Masoud Pezeshkian claims: “We are not seeking nuclear weapons… and we are ready for any verification.”
But the IAEA cannot inspect the facilities, and Iran is enriched at 60% near weapons level, far beyond the 3.67% limit in the 2015 deal that Trump withdrew from in 2018. The fact that its stocks exceed 9,870 kg fuels the West’s fears.
Tensions date back to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when Iran overthrew the US-backed Shah. The embassy hostage crisis, the Iran-Iraq war and the “Tanker War” deepened the hostility. Mr. Trump’s 2025 letter to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei recalled past aid to North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, but Mr. Khamenei vowed retaliation if attacked.
While protests rage in Iran over economic collapse (thousands have died in the crackdown), a US offensive risks a wider war, inflating gold prices and disrupting global growth. Britain, fresh from inflation falling from 3.4 per cent to 3 per cent, could face a “fuel price hell” that “cripples” households and businesses, experts say.
