Oil prices surged Monday as the U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports continued to restrict shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude futures climbed 1.1% to $84.45 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate futures rose 1% to $78.98. This surge in energy prices directly benefits global capital, even as it drives up costs for working people and devastates the Iranian economy.
President Donald Trump admitted Sunday that the United States is “low-keying it” with Iran, engaging in “only semi-negotiating.” He openly stated his administration is “just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money.” This candid assessment reveals the true nature of the U.S. strategy: economic warfare designed to cripple a nation and extract concessions, not genuine diplomacy.
Capital's Gains, Workers' Losses
The Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint, once carried a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil trade and a fifth of global liquefied natural gas. Now, shipping traffic has plummeted, with only eight confirmed crossings last Friday, a 33% drop from the previous day. This manufactured scarcity pushes prices upward, ensuring higher profits for oil corporations and financial speculators.
American consumers are already feeling the squeeze. The national average for a gallon of regular gas reached slightly more than $4 on Monday. This marks a significant increase from the $2.98 average when Trump initiated airstrikes in late February, starting the current conflict. Meanwhile, the U.S. economy shed 23,000 jobs in July, a fact dismissed by National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, who claimed the “overall economy” is “really, really booming.” This disconnect highlights how ruling-class prosperity is built on the backs of a struggling working class.
The Imperial Hand
The U.S. military has actively enforced the blockade, redirecting 55 commercial vessels as of Sunday and disabling two ships while boarding two others to ensure compliance. This projection of military power serves as an imperial garrison, securing control over global energy routes and leveraging economic pressure against Iran. Trump himself boasted that the blockade has “crippled the country economically,” leaving Iran “in very bad shape.”
Iran has laid out clear conditions for reopening the Strait, including compensation, an end to sanctions, the lifting of the U.S. naval blockade, the withdrawal of American troops, and the release of frozen Iranian assets. These demands, articulated by a senior Iranian official, underscore the material costs imposed by U.S. policy. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met with Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to discuss “people’s livelihoods, the state of the market, employment, people’s housing,” all directly impacted by the U.S. sanctions.
Regional Destabilization
Beyond Iran, the broader region remains a flashpoint for imperialist maneuvering. In the occupied West Bank, Israel’s military declared the Christian-majority town of Taybeh a closed military zone, ostensibly to keep out Israeli settlers. This move follows months of struggle by the army and police to maintain order in a territory where at least 87 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers or soldiers in 2026. This ongoing violence is a direct consequence of the occupation, a system designed to dispossess Palestinians and secure land for the settler-colonial project.
In Yemen, Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked a Red Sea port town, killing seven and injuring 30 people. This latest strike is part of one of the largest waves of Houthi attacks since a 2022 truce, further destabilizing a nation already ravaged by a protracted conflict fueled by regional powers and their imperial backers. These conflicts, often framed as sectarian, are fundamentally struggles over resources, strategic control, and the accumulation of capital.