Economist and co-founder of Echelon Wealth Partners, Peter Schiff, called the Iran war a foreign policy blunder on Thursday, slamming the President Donald Trump administration amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.
‘Not Advocating’ For Ground Invasion
In a post on X, Schiff expressed his disappointment with the Trump administration’s handling of the Iran war. “Absent a U.S. boots-on-the-ground invasion and occupation, it's clear Iran will win this war,” Schiff said.
He added that Iran’s influence in the Gulf region will increase following the war and that the war has given it “control over the Strait of Hormuz,” something which the country didn’t have in the past.
In the same thread, Schiff expanded on his views. “I’m not advocating for an invasion of Iran,” he clarified, adding that he was against the war with Iran right from the beginning. “It’s becoming increasingly obvious that it was one of the greatest foreign policy blunders in U.S. history,” he said.
Iran War
The comments come as the Iran war has been escalating amid Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump shared that Beijing had agreed to purchase oil from the U.S. and that Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) had also received a 200-aircraft order from Chinese companies following talks.
Xi also expressed support for U.S. efforts involving Iran, Trump said following the first day of talks. Meanwhile, Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, criticized the U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, calling him a “failed TV host.”
UKMTO Incidents, Oil And Gas Prices
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center (UKMTO) reported an incident on Thursday, sharing that a vessel had been taken over by “unauthorized personnel whilst at anchor” near Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. The vessel was then “bound for Iranian Territorial Waters,” the incident report said.
Meanwhile, the national average price for a gallon of gas was $4.534 on Thursday, according to data from the American Automobile Association (AAA). The current average diesel price was $5.667/gallon. Californians still paid the highest average price, with gas prices over $6.147/gallon.
The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was trading at $102.6/barrel at the time of writing this article, while Brent crude was trading at $107/barrel at press time, surging 1.22%. The United States Oil Fund (NYSE:USO), an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the WTI crude, surged 0.17% to $143.25 during the after-hours trading on Thursday.
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