The Strait Of Hormuz Is Reportedly Closed Again After Iran Claims Israel's Attacks On Lebanon Violate Ceasefire, And Oh God, We're Never Getting Cheap Gas Again, Are We?

Trump accepted Iran's terms for a ceasefire last night and, in even better news, he also didn't kill millions of Iranian people. The part where he didn't slaughter untold numbers of innocents, while wiping Iran off the face of the earth, was the most important part of last night's developments, but the ceasefire also included a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which can't be bad news for gas prices. Except that, about the same time that post went live, we learned the ceasefire appears to have fallen apart thanks to Israel's continued attacks in Lebanon, and the Guardian reports that Iran has responded by re-closing the strait. 

Pakistan reportedly brokered the initial ceasefire deal and intended for Lebanon to be part of it. It isn't entirely clear whether Netanyahu changed his mind or where the lines of communication broke down if he didn't, but regardless, Israel launched its biggest attack yet in Lebanon after the ceasefire announcement, killing 254 and wounding 837. According to Iran, that constitutes a "ceasefire breach," and in response, it's reportedly stopped allowing oil tankers to pass through the strait. Oil prices may have dropped following the announcement, but unless something changes the moment I hit "Publish" again, they've already started climbing again.

Israel isn't the only country involved that's breaking the ceasefire, though. According to the Guardian, the United Arab Emirates claims it intercepted 17 ballistic missiles and 35 drones that Iran reportedly launched after announcing that Trump had accepted the terms of their ceasefire agreement. Saudi Arabia also claims Iran attacked its oil pipeline leading to the Red Sea after it was supposed to have stopped shooting. Basically, there aren't any good guys here, the ceasefire appears to have fallen apart in less than 24 hours, and anyone who thought the ceasefire announcement meant gas would get cheaper is going to have to think again. 

Is it really too much to ask for major news to break at a slow enough pace that I get a minute to breathe after finishing a post? Maybe two? At the very least, give me some different breaking news to cover and not an update that negates a lot of what I just published. Also, while I'm complaining, why did Russia have to invade Ukraine on my birthday? That said, as far as posts that almost immediately become outdated go, that one aged pretty well, because the ceasefire agreement looked like a mess from the moment Trump announced he'd agreed to Iran's proposal.

Allowing any country to demand tolls from ships traversing a choke point is a no-go for most countries around the world, and allowing Iran to get rich from oil tanker toll money definitely won't work for other Middle Eastern countries.  No one can really say what will happen over the next two weeks or even what exactly is happening right now at this moment, but one thing is clear, and that's that the entire ceasefire situation is a total mess. You could even be forgiven for calling it a dumpster fire. There's a chance the brief drop in oil prices will result in slightly lower gas prices tomorrow, but it also seems just as likely that Iran re-closing the strait will do the opposite.