Gasoline prices at a station in Beverly Hills, Calif., ahead of the Labor Day weekend this year. The war in the Middle East could increase the pain at the pump for many Americans. | Mario Tama/Getty ImagesThe new war in the Middle East is throwing yet another wrench into the world’s energy markets — hitting a struggling global economy at a politically perilous moment for leaders in the United States and Europe.
GOP lawmakers also spent the weekend ramping up attacks on the president’s efforts to ease tensions with Tehran — prompting the administration to stress that all sanctions remain in place. “These attacks reinforce the need for a more aggressive U.S.-Iran policy that more effectively deprives the regime and its proxies of resources,” said Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a statement Saturday.
A senior administration official said Sunday that Biden has not wavered on deterring Iranian bad behavior. Some energy industry analysts said they expect that Biden indeed will tighten sanctions enforcement — an action that could cause global oil prices to surpass the symbolic benchmark of $100 a barrel.
“The Biden Administration must be held accountable for its appeasement of these Hamas terrorists, including handing over billions of dollars to them and their Iranian backers,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said Saturday. Scalise is running for speaker to replace the recently ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy .