Ukraine drone strikes and Iran war split blame on skyrocketing diesel prices
- AEI fellow Marc Thiessen, armed with a graph from the Institute for the Study of War, claims the diesel price spike since August 2025 is Iran's fault, not Ukraine's drone strikes on Russian refineries.
- The graph purportedly annotates major events in both conflicts to prove correlation, but cynics note it looks like a Rorschach test for whichever narrative you already support.
- The administration is pushing the 'Iran war did it' line to deflect from the fallout of Trump's diesel export deal with Russia, which was supposed to stabilize prices but apparently just gave Moscow a new revenue stream.
- Critics argue that Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries are undeniably a factor, even if Iran is the bigger culprit, making this a game of picking which burning oil depot caused the smoke.
- The article is paywalled after the opening salvo, reminding us that deep-dive analysis of fuel costs is now a luxury item, much like a full tank of gas.
Brief Summary
The Trump administration and its critics are locked in a slap fight over who's to blame for skyrocketing diesel prices, with AEI's Marc Thiessen waving a graph from the Institute for the Study of War like a kid showing off a gold star. The graph allegedly proves that Iran, not Ukraine's drone campaign against Russian refineries, is the true culprit behind the price surge since August 2025. This conveniently shifts blame away from the White House's brilliant scheme to let Russia flood the global market with diesel, a deal that was supposed to lower prices but seems to have done little more than add geopolitical noise. Of course, none of this is settled science—it's partisan algebra where you plug in your preferred variables and get the answer you wanted. The real headline is that fuel prices are up, fingers are pointing in every direction, and the average consumer is stuck paying the tab for everyone else's foreign policy hobbies.
Why This Matters
For the average reader, this is the political equivalent of watching two kids argue over who broke the lamp while the living room is on fire. Diesel prices affect everything from the cost of groceries to shipping, heating, and the price of that overpriced latte you buy to cope with the news. Whether it's Iran, Ukraine, or the administration's brain-dead Russia deal, the result is the same: your wallet is lighter, and your patience is thinner. The 'who's to blame' debate is mostly theater, but the pump prices are painfully real. The key takeaway is to expect the blame game to intensify as the election cycle heats up, but don't expect gas to get cheaper—politicians rarely let facts get in the way of a good scapegoat.