Price of diesel in U.S. hits record as Vance downplays Iran war impact
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Updated on: September 4, 2026 / 12:30 PM EDT / CBS News
The U.S. Embassy in Beirut called the decision by Israel to release prisoners from Lebanon a "positive step" as the two sides work to fulfill a deal bartered by the U.S. earlier this summer.
"We welcome Israel's release of prisoners as part of the Lebanon-Israel Trilateral Framework," the embassy said on X . "This is a positive step. We urge both sides to continue to build on this momentum ahead of the next round of talks."
Israel freed four prisoners from Lebanon on Friday, one day after freeing the first prisoner as part of the trilateral agreement signed between the U.S., Israel and Lebanon in late June. The 13th point in the 14-point agreement agreed both sides would "pledge to work towards the search for and return of remains and the release of detainees."
In return for the prisoners released by Israel, Lebanon said it would search for the bodies of Jewish Lebanese citizens from the Lebanese civil war fought in the 1970s and '80s.
The implementation of key provisions in the trilateral agreement have been slow to come to reality. The biggest objective was for Israeli forces to exit southern Lebanon and hand over security to the Lebanese army. However, this would only occur once the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in the country surrendered its weapons and exited the security zone.
Hezbollah, which was not party to the trilateral agreement, has not disarmed and has continued to carry out occasional attacks on Israeli soldiers, largely making the agreement moot.
The U.S. issued sanctions Friday against a Turkish financial firm that the U.S. Treasury alleges is connected to Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
Golden Global Yatirim Bankasi Anonim Sirketi, which is based in Turkey, allegedly has facilitated tens of millions of dollars in transactions to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to the Treasury.
The Treasury called the bank a "critical financial lifeline" for the Iranian regime.
"Financial institutions continue to find out the hard way that we are serious about Operation Economic Outcast," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. "While we hope no more banks will need to be sanctioned, that ultimately depends on how quickly the international community comes to its senses and ceases support of the murderous Iranian regime. We know who you are, we know where you are, and we will continue to take action together with our allies and partners until we have buried the head of the Iranian snake."
The Trump administration recently sanctioned the United Arab Emirates branches of Banque Misr, which is based in Egypt. The sanctions only target the ones based in the UAE, which the U.S. also accused of being a lifeline to Iran's economy.
President Trump's top economic adviser attempted to downplay the rising prices at the gas pump this Labor Day weekend — including a record high for the holiday — and said he constantly updates the president on how much oil is getting out of the Strait of Hormuz.
"It's a very short-term thing," National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told Fox News Channel on Friday. "I get an update, just so you know, because the president wants us watching this every day, I get an update every morning about how much oil is making it through the straits, how much oil is going."
"The Saudis have lifted the amount of oil going through their pipeline that goes to the Red Sea, and so we're getting updates every day and thinking of everything we could do to make prices lower at the pump," Hassett continued.
The cost of a gallon of regular is currently $4.15, according to AAA . Gas has never cost more than $4 a gallon on Labor Day. The price has gone up about 6 cents in the last week, and just shy of $1 since a year ago.
Diesel, which affects the cost of every item that needs to be shipped around the country and world, also crossed an all-time high on Friday.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Iranian state TV that the government "is not seeking to impose any order or decision on the people" when it comes to managing growing economic concerns for Iranians.
Pezeshkian said the public should be prepared to manage energy consumption and said the government is not currently planning to raise gas prices. He said fuel consumption would instead be managed through non-pricing measures.
"The government's policy is to manage and control consumption using mainly non-price tools and policies, and under no circumstances should decisions in this area be made in a way that exposes society to sudden and shocking behavior," Pezeshkian told Iranian state TV.
"Every amount of savings and revenue resulting from reduced gasoline consumption will be spent on strengthening the electronic food voucher program, and no other use will be considered for these resources," he said.
Video aired by Iranian media outlets and shared widely on social media showed thousands of mourners and local officials attending the funeral on Thursday of 4-year-old Amir Mohammad Karimi, who was among at least four people Iranian officials say were killed Tuesday when a U.S. airstrike allegedly hit a wedding party in a home in the city of Kuhestak.
A coffin bearing a photo of the young boy was carried through the streets of Kuhetsak, in Iran's southern Hormozgan Province, before being buried, photos and video from Iranian and international media showed.
The U.S. military's Central Command has said it is looking into the reports that an American strike hit the wedding, though Vice President JD Vance said Thursday he was " extremely skeptical " of the Iranian allegations.
Iranian officials have said a U.S. missile crashed through the roof of the home Tuesday evening, and the Reuters news agency said four military weapons experts, after reviewing video and photos of the aftermath, determined that it appeared to have been a likely "direct hit with a U.S. munition," rather than a ricochet or some other indirect…
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