Plenković: government will adopt measures to mitigate rising energy prices

The United States has temporarily lifted sanctions on Iranian oil that is already in transit, in an attempt to order to maintain lower prices. The Treasury Department estimates that this will make roughly 140 million barrels of oil available to global markets. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the temporary and short-term authorization does not foresee new purchases or production.

Commenting on the rising energy prices as a result of the Israeli-American attack on Iran, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković announced on Saturday that government will introduce measures to mitigate the expected price shocks: “We will extend all of the measures that apply to the price of electricity. Natural gas has been regulated until October. We will adopt decision on vulnerable users, we will consider a slew of measures for farmers, because the rise in price for agricultural diesel is an especially sensitive issue for them. So this will be a package, one that is being worked on intensively. We will present it to our social partners, coalition partners and prior to that hold a cabinet session, so that we can react immediately.”

The Israeli-American attack on Iran continues, with Israel also targeting Lebanon. According to reports, Iran has responded with a new wave of attacks on Israel, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. However, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says Tehran’s goal is not to target fellow Muslims: “We do not seek conflict or war with Islamic nations, they are our brothers. The divisions that have arisen are the work of a treacherous enemy, who, through such methods and behavior, creates problems within our society and among us Muslims.”

Meanwhile, US media are also claiming that Iran fired two ballistic missiles at the US-British Diego Garcia military base in the Indian Ocean, almost four thousand kilometers away. In spite of this US President Donald Trump maintains that Israel and Washington have won the war: “Oh, I think we've won. We've knocked-out their navy, their air force, we've knocked-out their anti-aircraft; we've knocked-out everything. We're roaming free. From a military standpoint, they're finished.”

In spite of the claimed military victory, President Trump says he still needs help from NATO and other countries to re-open the Strait of Hormuz: “It's a simple military maneuver. It's relatively safe. But, you need a lot of help, in the sense of, you need ships, you need volume. And NATO could help us, but they so far haven't had the courage to do so. And others could help us. But, you know, we don't use it. You know at a certain point it will open itself. But it would be nice if those countries would get involved.”

Source: HRT