Regular gas prices hit a record high since 2023 amid war in Iran

Ongoing conflict between the U.S. and Iran has caused the price of oil to increase, leading to a jump in cost at the pump.

According to AAA, regular gas prices have reached their highest levels since 2023, with Arizona’s average price currently at $4.69. However, gas prices aren’t the only thing increasing.

Dennis Hoffman from ASU’s Center for Competitiveness and Prosperity Research, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss inflation and take an overall look at the economy.

“FIolks are frustrated at the pump, but that’s just the beginning,” Hoffman said. “Fuel prices [are] number one. That congestion in the Strait Hormuz, that means fertilizer for grains [are impacted]. Fuel is an input in the production of fertilizer. All of this just ripples through.”

This will drive food prices to go up which have already seen a price hike due to inflation, according to Hoffman. The cost of getting food to Arizona is further effected by the price of diesel reaching a record high o $6.04 as of April 1, 2026, according to AAA.

Hoffman added, “I feel really bad for those folks who are living paycheck to paycheck, driving across town, trying to make it all work.”

The “uncertainty” and the “terror of uncertainty” that people are feeling towards the United State’s economy has been slowly growing since last year, according to Hoffman.

“The good news if there is good news, if somehow this could all just magically go away [which] I don’t know how that would happen…[the economy] could snap back,” Hoffman said. “Oil prices are very volatile. So what goes up could come down really, really quickly. Unfortunately it’s hard to see that path right now.”

Realistically, the economy and all it’s factors takes time to level out, according to Hoffman. “What’s clear to me, what this episode is revealing how much leverage Iran has actually on the straits and how it can bring that transport to a grinding halt,” Hoffman said.