Iran introduced a higher price for its heaviest gasoline users after Tehran said it will unveil new sanctions for ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz following a weekend of renewed exchanges with the US. Under the new system, people buying more than their quota of 110 liters of gasoline a month now must pay 100,000 rials (about 7 cents) per liter, or twice as much as they have been paying since December. Gas price hikes can be sensitive, as seen in 2019 when an increase led to nationwide protests and a deadly crackdown.
The price hike comes as shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz slowed at the start of this week after Iran threatened to retaliate for any new US attacks. The number of commodity vessels sailing through the strait totalled seven on Monday, compared with eight on the previous day, Kpler data showed on Tuesday. Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran’s supreme national security council, said any ship seen entering the new restricted zone would be added to a sanctions list, reiterating that the waterway would only fully open again once the Americans “stop the sabotage, threats and attacks on Iran”.
Iranian state media said a ballistic missile with improved capabilities demonstrates Tehran's shifting stance toward taking preemptive action against threats. A senior Iranian official earlier said the new missile capability had been "tested" against a US warship over the weekend. But it was not clear whether what was tested was the missile the new report described, the solid-fueled Qassem Basir.
On Saturday, the US said it struck Iranian oil tankers in response to ballistic missiles launched at US warships. Iran's messaging in recent days has become more assertive, and yesterday's report said the Qassem Basir marks "a turning point in Iran's defense strategy." It described the missile as having greater range and accuracy and a half-ton warhead. A UAE senior official has said that "no single state" should control the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran said it plans to announce a new "exclusion zone" near the waterway aimed at vessels intending to transit.
"Our energy exports will not be held hostage, nor will our trade and economic activity," Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said at a forum of world leaders in Abu Dhabi. Gargash said Iran should face consequences for threatening oil tankers and commercial vessels in the strait with mines, drones or missiles. "Using an international waterway as an instrument of coercion is unacceptable," he added.
The UAE, a close US ally, has repeatedly come under Iranian missile and drone fire throughout the war. Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz slowed at the start of this week, after Iran threatened on Monday to retaliate for any new US attacks. Iran had warned that energy infrastructure across the Gulf, including US oil and gas interests, was vulnerable.
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