What Iran's New Hormuz Exclusion Zone Claims

Outside analysts are skeptical Iran can police a bigger box. "It's hard to see how they will really be able to enforce it. Iranian ships and planes trying to enforce that would be very vulnerable to U.S. attack," Stephen Zunes, Middle Eastern studies chair at the University of San Francisco, told Al Jazeera in comments quoted by Breitbart. "But perhaps they are giving a warning, given there still would be some risk for shipping companies to not count on being able to get through the strait without suffering consequences."

Iranian officials leaned on the threat to energy infrastructure. Parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said, per Breitbart: "It's simple: the oil and gas production chain here is sprawling, accessible, and exposed. American oil and gas companies across these waters and facilities share that exposure." Semafor attributed the same line to Iran's lead negotiator writing Monday, citing Reuters.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNN that an average of 9 million barrels of oil a day are getting through the strait and that, counting regional pipelines, "we're probably two-thirds or more of preconflict flows." The AP noted his estimate appeared to exceed average flows over the last 28 days as measured by TankerTrackers.com and other sources, and that current flows depend on U.S. Navy escorts.

Rezaei, for his part, claimed on state TV that "every day we are selling 1 million, 1½ million [barrels], as if Iran's oil production and trade are continuing as usual." The Wall Street Journal reported the opposite pressure: the U.S. blockade and dwindling supplies on the water are squeezing Tehran's most important export earner.

What It Costs at the Pump

The average price of regular gas in the U.S. was $4.14 a gallon going into Labor Day weekend, a record high for the holiday, CBS reported. Semafor, citing Reuters, likewise reported U.S. gas prices at record highs — and reported that Iran doubled the price of fuel consumed over quota, citing the Financial Times.

Axios reported Monday that the war has cost U.S. consumers $100 billion in higher energy prices, rising about $1 million every two minutes, per a real-time estimate from Brown University's Watson School, which put the cost to the average U.S. household at more than $760 since Feb. 28. The Frank covered that estimate in Iran War Adds $100 Billion to Fuel Bills. The war's costs are landing in other ledgers too — see Widow Denied Combat Pay Because Iran "Isn't War".