Politics
Gas was $3.18 a year ago. It is $4.48 today. The Strait was open before the US struck Iran on Israeli intelligence on February 28. Iran closed it in response. Congress never voted. The IEA calls it the largest supply disruption in history.
NewsOnScale Staff
September 20, 2026
Gas cost $3.18 per gallon one year ago. Today it costs $4.48. Diesel hit $6.44 — a new all-time record. The IEA has called the current disruption the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.
The Strait of Hormuz was open before February 28 2026.
That fact is the most important fact in the entire seven month history of the US-Iran conflict. The disruption did not happen because Iran provoked the United States. It happened because the United States — acting on Israeli intelligence — launched strikes on Iran, and Iran responded by closing the waterway it controls.
The sequence matters. Here it is documented.
Before February 28
The Strait of Hormuz was open. Approximately 20 percent of the world's total petroleum production passed through it daily without disruption. US gas prices averaged $3.18 per gallon. Diesel prices were normal. Global shipping moved freely through the Persian Gulf.
The United States and Iran were not in active military conflict. There was no disruption to global oil supply from the Strait.
February 28 2026
The United States and Israel launched coordinated military strikes against Iran — targeting military sites, nuclear facilities, and senior Iranian officials. The strikes were based on intelligence that was substantially Israeli in origin.
Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz the same day.
Gas prices jumped more than 30 percent within days of the strikes. The IEA characterized the resulting supply disruption as historically unprecedented.
The Intelligence Question
The decision to strike Iran was made based on intelligence that was substantially sourced from Israel — an ally with its own strategic interests in the outcome of any US-Iran military confrontation.
The United States took Israeli intelligence, launched a military operation against a sovereign nation, triggered the closure of a global shipping chokepoint, and started a conflict that has now lasted seven months — without a congressional declaration of war and without a congressional vote of any kind.
Whether the intelligence was accurate, whether it was sufficient to justify the strikes, and whether the decision to act on it was made with adequate independent US verification — these are questions that no congressional oversight committee has publicly examined because Congress went home for the midterms.
What Followed
Trump called it a short-term excursion and promised it would end within weeks. He issued ultimatums. Pakistan mediated. A memorandum of understanding was reached in June. Iran briefly reopened the Strait, then sought to impose fees on passing vessels, then attacked three ships in July. Trump declared the ceasefire over. Strikes resumed. The Strait closed again.
Six Americans have been killed. US bases in Kuwait, the UAE, and Jordan have been struck. A UN fact-finding mission found war crimes on the first day of the conflict. The Pentagon quietly reduced its official death count and a US government official said the new counting method was designed to obscure the truth.
What Americans Are Paying
$4.48 per gallon for regular gas nationally. $6.44 for diesel. California at $6.11. Six states above $5. A 50 percent increase in gas prices and a 71 percent increase in diesel since February 28.
Every American filling a gas tank today is paying for a decision made without a congressional vote, based substantially on intelligence from a foreign ally, that closed a waterway that was open and functioning before the decision was made.
The Constitutional Question That Has Not Been Asked
Congress has the power to investigate how the decision to strike Iran was made, what intelligence it was based on, and whether that intelligence was independently verified before American service members were put in harm's way.
Congress has not held those hearings. The House passed three non-binding resolutions to end the conflict. The Senate has not voted. Congress went home for the midterms.
The Strait of Hormuz was open before February 28. Americans were paying $3.18 for gas. Six Americans are now dead. The IEA calls it the largest supply disruption in history.
That is the documented sequence. The questions it raises have not been answered publicly.
DISCLOSURE: NewsOnScale is an independent media publication owned and operated by AMILLI AI CORP. JJ Johnson is the founder of AMILLI AI CORP and a declared candidate for President of the United States in 2028. All facts in this article are drawn from Al Jazeera, NBC News, Deseret News, The Hill, the IEA, AAA gas price data, and Wikipedia's documentation of the 2026 Iran war and 2026 Iran war fuel crisis.