Senior Matt Gavagan commutes to Sacred Heart University almost every day. However, he recently has become worried about the affordability of his travel due to the Iranian conflict affecting the prices of his fuel.
The conflict in Iran has been ongoing for eight months and continues to have an impact on the world. The tensions between Iran and the United States and its ally Israel have a history that dates back 50 years.
|AP News, Hassan Ammar|
“There has been a long history of distrust and conflict between the U.S. and Iran dating back to the Islamic Revolution in 1979 when Islamic fundamentalists overthrew the Shah of Iran, who was backed by the U.S. and then held American diplomatic personnel hostage for well over a year,” said Dr. Gary Rose, a political science scholar-in-residence at Sacred Heart.
“Since then, Iran has been a prime sponsor of terrorist attacks throughout the Middle East, resulting in many American deaths. The theocratic government of Iran is regarded by the U.S. as a source of terrorism and as an enemy of Western civilization,” said Rose.
The involvement of the United States in the war can also be attributed to the last decade.
“Although President Obama and international partners reached a nuclear deal with Iran in July of 2015, President Trump withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal in May of 2018,” said Prof. Joseph Alicastro, in the School of Communication and Media.
The conflict has been put on pause as Israel and the U.S. undergo elections. Current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has served for the last 17 years and is facing the first national election cycle since Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
“There are many issues that have been raised by this conflict, beginning with: should the United States and Israel have attacked Iran in the first place? Why did the President ignore the well-known possibility that Iran would shut down the Strait of Hormuz, creating worldwide economic chaos?” said Alicastro.
Election results could influence the direction of peace negotiations, which are currently stagnant.
According to AP News, “He, Esmail Baghaei, Iranian Diplomat, said the U.S. appears to persist in unilateral demands and that Trump and U.S. officials repeatedly use the phrase ‘complete surrender,’ which Baghaei said no Iranian accepts.”
Despite the fighting happening overseas, the effects are impacting Americans, as well as other countries, the biggest of these being gas prices. Iran has repeatedly closed the Strait of Hormuz due to the conflict, hindering oil shipments and causing the price of gas and fuel to rise.
“Gas prices have been the part of the war that has affected me most. Lately I’ve been paying up to $10 more per tank of gas, and that really adds up over time,” said Gavagan.
According to the American Automobile Association, the average cost of a gallon of gas in Fairfield County as of Oct. 28 has reached $4.373, over a dollar more than it was a year ago.
“It’s very difficult to predict how and when this conflict will come to an end,” said Rose. “Neither side has agreed to compromise on the proposed peace plan, so it looks as if there will be a stalemate in the months ahead.”
On Oct. 27, the Israeli elections were held. The results, released on Oct. 30, were that Netanyahu’s party lost a majority of control in Israel’s Parliament.
The following weeks will most likely include lengthy discussion and negotiation, as a governmental body needs to be reformed in Israel. It is still too early to know how this election’s results, and the new governmental authority that comes from it, will affect the conflict in Iran.
“Opposition to the conflict has been growing among the American people and within both parties, so the forthcoming election could have consequences for the duration of the conflict,” said Rose.
AP News contributed to this article.
