U.S. Consumer Prices and Inflation

Iran’s strikes and maritime attacks have effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, stranding thousands of ships and helping push Brent and WTI well above $100–$114 a barrel—sparking emergency oil releases, rising gasoline and shipping costs, and broader risks to LNG, fertilizer supplies and global growth, per IEA, NPR and market reports. Bahrain has circulated a U.N. Security Council draft invoking Chapter VII to authorize “all necessary means” to reopen the strait—drawing opposition from China and Russia and a competing French non‑Chapter VII text that is being reworked—while the U.S. response has been mixed (temporarily easing enforcement on some Iranian cargoes to add supply, public debate by the president over strategy) amid volatile markets and scrutiny of large pre‑announcement oil‑futures trades.