Iran warns oil flow through Hormuz could be halted

Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaee, has warned countries against participating in economic measures touted by President Donald Trump, saying Washington’s measures could affect the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

Not a Single Drop Of Oil Will Flow In a post on X on Sunday, Rezaee warned that “not a single drop of oil will be exported” through the Strait of Hormuz or the Persian Gulf, “if the economic war continues,” reaffirming his earlier warning to countries participating in U.S. measures.

He added that Tehran would “regard any country’s participation in or support for America’s economic war against the Iranian people as an act of war.” If the economic war continues, not a single drop of oil will be exported٫ neither through the Strait of Hormuz nor from anywhere in the Persian Gulf.

Iran will regard any country’s participation in or support for America’s economic war against the Iranian people as an act of war. — محسن رضایی (@ir_rezaee) August 23, 2026 According to the data collected by Marine Traffic, which tracks the movement of ships across the world, there were a handful of vessels traversing through the area at the time of writing this article.

Economic Sanctions Trump had earlier said that the administration was preparing unprecedented financial sanctions aimed at Iran, a move that was also backed by U.S.

Vice President JD Vance and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

While Vance backed the measures, he also said that oil was moving through the Strait of Hormuz, a claim that was supported by Trump’s Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

Read Also: Crude Oil Price Steady as Iran Plots Escalation Amid US Sanctions Threat Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also recently issued a waiver, allowing the release of winter blend gasoline earlier, touting the move as a relief to high prices at the pump.

Former General Says US May Have Lost Access to 15 Gulf Bases Retired U.S.

Army Gen.

Barry R.

McCaffrey said he believes the U.S. military has "probably permanently lost access to 15 Persian Gulf bases.” McCaffree added that the U.S. would have to “negotiate new access in western Saudi Arabia, Israel, southern Europe” and said that Tehran was “poised to control access [to] the Gulf States.” In my judgement, the US Armed Forces have probably permanently lost access to 15 Persian Gulf bases.

Iran now poised to control access the Gulf States.

US will have to negotiate new access in western Saudi Arabia, Israel, southern Europe. — Barry R McCaffrey (@mccaffreyr3) August 22, 2026 Iran was earlier reportedly planning strikes against U.S. targets in Southern Europe, with Bulgaria’s Bezmer Air Base—where U.S.

KC-135 refueling aircraft had been temporarily stationed—among potential targets.

Two U.S. tankers left the base on Aug.

21, according to Bulgaria’s defense minister.

Analysts from Kpler also claimed that Iran had “partially lost” control over the Strait of Hormuz, saying that ships were transiting through the waterway via the Omani route.

Oil, Gas Prices At the time of writing this article, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was trading at $85.64/bbl, while the Brent crude commanded a price of $93.05/bbl at press time.

Meanwhile, the oil ETF United States Oil Fund (NYSE: USO ) slipped 1.09% to $133.17 during overnight trading.

The national average price of gas remained above $4 on Sunday at $4.0986/gallon, while the national average price of diesel rose to $5.6074/gallon on Sunday.

The average diesel price in California surged to $7.1423/gallon.

Read Also: Trump’s Former Counterterrorism Chief Warns Against Iran Economic Measures, Citing Risk to US Troops—Backs Sanctions Relief to Reopen Strait of Hormuz Check out more of Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.

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