Iran defiant on strait as Trump tells Americans to accept high gas prices

Iran called on the U.S. to accept defeat while President Donald Trump blasted Tehran as "very evil" ​and told Americans to brace for continued high fuel prices as a result of the war.

Progress toward peace talks and oil tanker traffic through the strategic Strait of ‌Hormuz waterway remained halted, with no sign the warring parties were moving toward ending the conflict that the U.S. and Israel launched on February 28.

"This strait will be opened and closed only under Iran's command, and so long as you do not accept the reality of defeat and stop indulging in fantasies, Iran will continue to enforce the blockade," Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi posted on X early on Saturday.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Iran had not decided to resume talks with the U.S. He told Iranian news outlet Shahrara News in an interview published on Saturday that Washington ​must meet conditions on the strait in order for shipping to resume in the waterway that handled one-fifth of the world's oil before the war.

Trump ⁠urged Americans to accept slightly higher gasoline prices while the conflict with Iran continues.

He told a political rally in Garden City, New York, on Friday that paying "a tiny little bit more for your gasoline" ​is worth the cost of ensuring "a very evil country" could not have a nuclear weapon, one of the president's stated rationales for the war.

In a trend that has sparked inflation and disappointed voters, the ​average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline was about $4.08 on Friday, up 29% from a year earlier, according to the American Automobile Association.

Trump, a Republican, campaigned for reelection on a promise to lower energy costs, and Democrats are seeking to make the war's fallout an issue in November congressional elections.

Crude oil futures rose $1 a barrel on Friday. Benchmark Brent futures were on track for a weekly rise of 6.0% and West Texas Intermediate 5.4%.