Smoke
and flames rise at the site of airstrikes on an oil depot in Tehran on
March 7. Photo: Sasan / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images
The Trump administration asked Israel on Monday not to carry out further strikes on energy facilities in Iran, particularly oil infrastructure, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
Why it matters: The U.S. request marks the first time the Trump administration has reined in Israel since the two countries launched their joint operation against Iran ten days ago.
The Israeli strikes blanketed Tehran — a city of 10 million — in toxic black smoke and acid rain, raising urgent health warnings for ordinary Iranians.
Driving the news: The U.S. messages were conveyed at a senior political level and to IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, an Israeli official said.
A second Israeli official said "the U.S. asked that we notify them in advance of any future strikes on oil facilities in Iran."
The Trump administration cited three reasons for its request, according to a source with knowledge of the matter:
Such strikes harm the Iranian public, a large portion of which opposes the regime.
Trump aims to cooperate with Iran's oil sector after the war — similar to the approach he has taken with Venezuela.
The strikes could trigger massive Iranian retaliatory attacks on energy infrastructure across Gulf states.
Between the lines: Iran attacked Gulf energy facilities with drones earlier in the war, but did not cause significant or irreversible damage.
The U.S. concern is that a new round of strikes on Iranian oil could change that calculus — and send prices even higher.
A
source familiar with the details said Trump views strikes on Iran's
energy and oil facilities as a "doomsday option" — something to be held
in reserve only if Iran deliberately attacks Gulf oil facilities first.
What they're saying: Trump telegraphed that posture publicly, warning Monday that Iran will be hit "20 times harder" if it harms global oil supplies.
Trump wrote on Truth Social
that the U.S. will "take out easily destroyable targets that will make
it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation,
again."
The source claimed Trump was hinting at potential attacks on Iranian oil facilities.
The intrigue: Sen.
Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of the Republican Party's most vocal
supporters of the war, also criticized the Israeli strikes on the fuel
depots.
"Please be cautious about what targets you select.
Our goal is to liberate the Iranian people in a fashion that does not
cripple their chance to start a new and better life when this regime
collapses. The oil economy of Iran will be essential to that endeavor," Graham wrote on X.
On
Tuesday morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth distanced the
administration from the Israeli fuel depot strikes, telling reporters
the U.S. had not attacked targets of that kind.
The White House, the Israeli embassy in Washington and the IDF declined to comment.
rumpt and hegseth replace us govt and war dept acronyms - out with the old and in with the new - noaa dod nasa cfpb are out and new orgs nano nino nono and nanu-nanu are in
Midwest and South see steepest fuel cost increases
Analysts predict further price rises due to market conditions
MARIETTA/NEW YORK, March 6 (Reuters) - U.S. retail gasoline and diesel prices are soaring as the U.S.-Israel war with Iran constrains oil and fuel exports, which could be a political test for President Donald Trump's Republican Party ahead of midterm elections in November.
Fuel
prices jumped more than 10% this week as oil rose above $90 a barrel,
its highest in years, adding pain at the pump for consumers already
strained by inflation. Trump on Thursday shrugged off higher gasoline
prices in an interview with Reuters, opens new tab, saying "if they rise, they rise."
The
president had vowed to lower energy prices and unleash U.S. oil and gas
drilling during his second term, but much of his tenure has been marked
by volatility and uncertainty amid shifts in policies like tariffs and
geopolitical turmoil. The U.S.
is the world's largest oil producer. It is a major exporter but also
imports millions of barrels a day since it is the world's largest oil
consumer.
As
of Friday, the national average prices for regular gasoline stood at
$3.32 a gallon, up 11% from a week ago and the highest since September
2024, according to data from the motorists association AAA. Diesel was
at $4.33, up 15% from a week ago, surging to the highest since November
2023.
MIDWEST, SOUTH FEEL THE PINCH
U.S.
motorists in parts of the Midwest and the South, including states that
supported Trump, have seen some of the steepest increases in fuel costs
since the conflict in Iran started.
In
Georgia, a swing state, average retail gasoline prices rose 40.1 cents a
gallon over the past week, according to fuel tracking site GasBuddy.
Andrenna
McDaniel, a healthcare insurance worker in South Fulton, Georgia, said
she was surprised to see prices skyrocket overnight.
"They jumped up so quickly," she said on Friday, adding that she does not agree with the war at all.
McDaniel,
a Democrat, said that for now she is only driving for the most
important things, and feels lucky that she works from home so she does
not have to drive as much as other people do.
Georgia voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
Trump
voter Richard Soule, 69, a U.S. Air Force veteran and a retired
firefighter, said a little pain at the pump is worth Trump's efforts to
protect America.
Gasoline
prices are displayed at a gas station price display, in Carlsbad,
California, U.S., March 3, 2026. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
"When
President Trump went in there and bombed out their nuclear, and they
just thumbed their nose at it, I believe he did the right thing at the
right time," Soule said on Friday as he filled up his Ford F-150 truck
in Marietta, Georgia.
Other states, including Indiana and West Virginia have seen prices rise by 44.3 cents and 43.9 cents, respectively.
US retail fuel prices have surged sharply
PRICES MAY RISE FURTHER
More
pain may be on the way, analysts said, as oil prices continue to trend
upward. On Friday, U.S. oil futures settled at $90.90 a barrel, up
nearly $10 and the biggest single-day rise since April 2020.
"Given
current market conditions, the national average price of gasoline could
climb toward $3.50 to $3.70 per gallon in the coming days if oil
continues rising and supply disruptions persist," GasBuddy analyst
Patrick De Haan said.
The
disruptions in the Middle East and the Strait of Hormuz, a key trade
conduit, have boosted demand for U.S. oil abroad, which in turn has
driven up prices for domestic refiners too.
"The
U.S. has weaned itself off of its dependence on Middle Eastern crude,
but obviously Asian refineries, and to a lesser extent, European
refineries have not," Denton Cinquegrana, chief oil analyst with OPIS.
"That's what you're seeing happen in the spot market, because the demand
for U.S. exports rise, and so the price rise."
Seasonal
factors could add further pressure. Gasoline prices typically go up
in the spring and peak in the summer due to higher gasoline demand and
production of summer-blend gasoline, which is more costly to produce.
Diesel fuel saw an even more aggressive jump since Iran began retaliating against U.S. and Israeli strikes, significantly disrupting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Global
diesel inventories have remained in tight supply due to heavy demand
for heating and power generation during a prolonged winter in the U.S.
and other parts of the world and a structural tightness of refining
capacity.
Sticker
prices of everything from food to furniture go up when the cost of
diesel goes up, as the fuel is mainly used in freight transportation,
manufacturing, agriculture, and global shipping, analysts said.
"In a world where buzzword seems to be 'affordability', that is certainly not going to help," Cinquegrana said.
Reporting by Nicole Jao, Jayla Whitfield-Anderson and Rich McKay; Editing by Liz Hampton and David Gregorio
Rich
McKay has been a reporter for more than 30 years, spanning beats from
crime and courts to local government and general assignment desks. McKay
previously worked at the Winston-Salem Journal and Greensboro News
& Record in North Carolina and then the Orlando Sentinel in Florida.
He now reports for Reuters' National Affairs desk covering news across
the United States from Atlanta, Georgia. He reports on disasters such as
mass shootings, hurricanes, and wild fires, along with news features
out of Georgia. Noteworthy stories include one about Minneapolis
children showing courage at a church shooting and a news feature on how
Atlanta was taking so much water from the Chattahoochee River it was
wiping out the oyster beds hundreds of miles away in Apalachicola,
Florida.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/minneapolis-children-revealed-courage-absorbed-fear-during-church-shooting-2025-08-28/
https://www.reuters.com/article/legal/as-florida-georgia-battle-over-water-panhandle-oystermen-struggle-to-survive-idUSKBN20F1LK/
He earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Massachusetts
and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Michigan.
When he's not working, you can find him puttering in his vegetable
garden or reading from his comic book collection. He can be reached at
470-249-6238 or rich.mckay@thomsonreuters.com.
Trump
administration officials on Sunday defended a decision to temporarily
lift some sanctions on Russian oil and predicted that a sharp increase
in gasoline prices resulting from the Iran war would last only weeks.
