BlackRock CEO Larry Fink argues US-Iran conflict won’t derail economy as gas prices surge
BlackRock chairman and CEO Larry Fink insisted the United States’ war with Iran will not have lasting economic consequences, even as oil prices continue to surge nationwide.
“Do I believe the war is going to be lasting a long time? No,” Fink told Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier. “Do I believe oil is going be reverting back to where it was? Maybe even lower.”
Fink joined “Special Report” Wednesday, where he discussed how artificial intelligence and the war in Iran are affecting the economy. He also addressed whether so-called “woke” corporate initiatives have proven to be a failed experiment.
Turning first to market volatility, Fink explained why short-term impacts on energy prices do not alarm BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager.
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“It creates uncertainty, and uncertainty creates fear,” he said of the war with Iran. “But that being said, the $14.5 trillion of money we manage, most of it is very long-dated. I don’t pay much attention to the short-term volatility.”
Fink’s comments come as energy markets roil amid conflict in the Middle East.
Gasoline prices have surged 20% since the U.S. attacked Iran Feb. 28, causing intensifying pain at the pump. The national average currently sits at $3.58 per gallon for regular gasoline, compared to $2.94 before the U.S. struck Iran, per AAA.
Despite the recent spike, Fink argued that oil prices could fall even lower once the war ends and if Iran reenters the global market.
“If the outcome of the war is a neutralized Iran, and they are allowed to be selling… oil products into the market again, I mean there’s probably a great probability that oil is gonna be below 50,” he said.
Fink cautioned investors against making drastic moves during the U.S.-Israel-led war with Iran, arguing that the volatility could create opportunities.
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“We have seen many people pulling out of the market. And to me, that is the wrong outcome,” Fink argued. “In fact, I’ve been getting so many texts, ‘What should I do?’ And I said, ‘Buy more here.’ This is a good long-term opportunity.”
The CEO went on to address whether “woke” initiatives like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and Environmental, Social Governance (ESG) were failed experiments for BlackRock.
“The pendulum moves all the time,” Fink said.
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“Do I believe the pendulum five years ago was too far? Yes.”
BlackRock began rolling back its DEI initiatives last February, citing “significant changes to the US legal and policy environment related to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) that apply to many companies, including BlackRock.”
Fink said he feels “more pragmatic” today than he did five years ago and noted that society has moved into a “better position” of increased pragmatism.
Baier continued to press Fink on whether BlackRock pushed its corporate clients too far to a certain side.
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“Do you think BlackRock pushed some companies a little bit further left than you thought?” Baier asked.
“It was never our intention because our job is to be… I gotta be a fiduciary to everybody who gives us money,” Fink responded.
Ex-Iranian women’s soccer star empathizes with national team, breaks down sharing story of father’s death
Shiva Amini, a former Iranian women’s professional soccer player who was banned from the team and later forced to leave the country after she was photographed playing without a hijab around her head, suggested Wednesday that the players coming back to the country faced an uncertain future.
Six Iranian women’s national soccer team players received asylum in Australia after the team was bounced from the Women’s Asian Cup. The Australian government stepped in and worked with some players to attain a humanitarian visa.
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Amini appeared on Fox News Channel’s “The Story” said she understood what the players are going through.
“I can totally understand what those Iranian soccer players are going through because I’ve been in their shoes,” she said. “The Iranian regime put you in this situation. You have to say goodbye to everything that you have in Iran … Anything could happen to you when you go to Iran. You can face prison, you can face rape, you can face execution. … The regime don’t care about who you are.”
Amini was granted asylum in Switzerland over threats from the Islamic regime in Iran.
She broke down in tears as she recalled being unable to see her father for nearly 10 years and missing his funeral when he died.
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“I was in Switzerland and the regime put me in a situation,” she said. “I just simply play soccer with my friends without my hijab on and the regime saw my social media and used that against me because they wanted to make an example of me for the other athletes in Iran.
“They took everything from me. I lost my family, I lost my home, I lost my safety. I remember after six, seven years when I was in Italy I just wanted to invite my parents, my family, my mom and my dad because my dad was like restless. He was like, ‘Hey, I wanna see you.’ I tried to get a visa for them. This is so sad because I tried so hard with a lawyer but the regime didn’t give a visa to my dad, but (only) my mom.
“My mom came to me after seven years and when she was there, I was so happy. It was something after seven years I could hug my mom, I feel her. When my mom was in Italy, my brother called me and said, ‘Dad, passed away.’ And that day was the worst day of my life because I felt guilty. My mom is here. I couldn’t get a visa for my dad. … I wanted to get hack to Iran, but my mom didn’t allow me and she said, ‘No, you cannot even see your dad because they’re gonna arrest you.’”
Most of the Iranian women’s soccer team left Australia, declining last-minute asylum offers.
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The team flew to Malaysia after being at Sydney Airport.
FIFA president says Trump reiterated Iran ‘welcome to compete’ at World Cup in US amid Middle East conflict
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said President Donald Trump “reiterated” to him that Iran’s men’s national soccer team would be “welcome to compete” at the 2026 World Cup in the United States later this summer, despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Infantino shared the details of his conversation with the president in a lengthy post on Instagram on Tuesday.
“This evening, I met with the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump to discuss the status of preparations for the upcoming FIFA World Cup, and the growing excitement as we are set to kick off in just 93 days.
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“We also spoke about the current situation in Iran, and the fact that the Iranian team has qualified to participate in the FIFA World Cup 2026. During the discussions, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States,” Infantino said.
“We all need an event like the FIFA World Cup to bring people together now more than ever, and I sincerely thank the President of the United States for his support, as it shows once again that Football Unites the World.”
But on Wednesday, Iran’s sports minister claimed a squad would not be sent to the World Cup.
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“Considering that this corrupt regime has assassinated our leader, under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup,” Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali told state television, via Reuters.
Iran is scheduled to play in Inglewood, California, against New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21 before finishing group play against Egypt in Seattle on June 26. The U.S. is hosting the tournament with Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.
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Trump was indifferent last week when asked about Iran’s participation in the World Cup, telling Politico, “I really don’t care.”
“I think Iran is a very badly defeated country. They’re running on fumes.”
Spain permanently pulls ambassador from Israel amid Iran war
Spain permanently pulled its ambassador to Israel on Tuesday over its opposition to the U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran, ratcheting up an already tense diplomatic rift between the two countries.
The Spanish government formally terminated the ambassador’s post in its official gazette and said its embassy in Tel Aviv will now be led by a chargé d’affaires indefinitely.
Madrid had recalled its ambassador last September after Israel condemned Spain’s decision to block aircraft and ships carrying weapons to Israel from using Spanish ports or airspace. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called the move antisemitic at the time.
When a reporter on Wednesday asked whether Spain, in general, was cooperating with the U.S., President Donald Trump replied, “No, they’re not. I think they’re not cooperating at all.”
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“Spain, I think they’ve been very bad,” the president said. “Very bad. Not good at all. We may cut off trade with Spain.”
“I don’t know what Spain is doing,” Trump continued. “They’ve been very bad to NATO. They get protected, they don’t want to pay their fair share. And they’ve been that way for many years.”
Trump added that the people of Spain “are fantastic,” whereas the leadership is “not so good.”
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Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Wednesday criticized Spain’s decision to recall its ambassador to Israel permanently as “hard for me to absorb.”
“Spain is a member of NATO, and the United States and Israel are in joint operations against the Iranian regime who openly calls for the destruction of the Jewish State, attacks against the West, and seeks to purify Islam in its own image,” Graham wrote on X.
“The religious Nazi regime in Iran is the problem, not the Jewish State,” the senator continued. “I hope Spain’s actions will not encourage the tyrannical, fanatical regime in Iran — that abuses its own people — to hang on.”
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Relations between Spain and Israel have deteriorated sharply since Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza in response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks.
Israel also downgraded its diplomatic presence in Spain last May after Spain recognized a Palestinian state, placing its own embassy in Madrid under a chargé d’affaires.
Iranian-born scholar warns regime was an ‘aggressively patient threat waiting to pounce’ on America
Anti-war activists gathered in cities across the U.S. to condemn military strikes against the Iranian regime. One Iranian scholar, however, says the protesters have it wrong and is warning Americans not to fall for what she calls a dangerous narrative.
The U.S. and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury after nuclear negotiations with Tehran failed, which President Donald Trump cited as justification for the military campaign. While critics described the mission as a “war of choice,” Iranian-American scholar Nazee Moinian argued the strikes constituted an act of self-defense.
“I want the American people to understand that if it was not an imminent threat, it was a solidly, aggressively patient threat waiting to pounce at any moment to do great damage to American interests,” Moinian said of Iran on “The Fox News Rundown” podcast.
In the hours after the first strikes on Iran, demonstrations were held across the country in places like Times Square and outside the White House to protest the military action.
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Moinian, an associate fellow at the Middle East Institute who fled Iran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, pushed back against media outlets portraying the conflict as “another endless war.”
“They framed that as a war of choice. It is a war choice, but whose choice? It’s not our choice. Iran was given so many exit ramps,” Moinian told Fox News Radio’s Tonya J. Powers on Friday.
She pointed to major protest movements in 1999, 2009 and 2022, during which Iranian authorities used force to suppress demonstrators.
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“They took to the street in 1999. It was a student riot. They were shot in [the] thousands. And some of the bodies never were recovered,” Moinian said.
“If they were recovered, the Islamic regime would ask the parents of the students for the cost of the bullets that they killed their children with. That’s how heinous and brutal that regime was in 1999,” she added.
Moinian warned that the threat of Iran isn’t just overseas. With “porous” borders and the reach of cyberspace, she said the regime’s ideology already stretches into America.
“We may not have liked to go to war with them, but they were very willing and gradually very capable to do great damage to us,” she said, adding, “This is a justified war to safeguard the American people.”
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During the strikes, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed, along with several other key leaders. Iranian officials named his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, as the next supreme leader.
Trump signaled disappointment with Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment, telling Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst, “I don’t believe he can live in peace.”
US destroys 16 Iranian mine boats as Strait of Hormuz oil showdown escalates
U.S. forces destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz Tuesday, U.S. Central Command said, in what officials described as a move to prevent Iran from disrupting one of the world’s most critical maritime choke points.
The strikes come as oil traffic through the strait remains at a near standstill, threatening a corridor that carries roughly 20 million barrels per day — about one-fifth of global consumption — and squeezing Gulf exporters like Iraq and Kuwait that rely on the narrow passage to ship their primary source of revenue.
Prior to taking out the mining vessels, Trump demanded Iran remove them “IMMEDIATELY!” warning that if it doesn’t, “the Military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before.”
U.S. officials have long warned that Iran maintains a significant naval mine inventory and has rehearsed tactics designed to threaten commercial shipping in the Gulf. The destruction of the vessels appears aimed at stopping any potential deployment before mines could be laid in shipping lanes.
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The Strait of Hormuz, bordered by Iran to the north and Oman and the United Arab Emirates to the south, is a critical artery for global energy markets. Even the threat of mining operations can further disrupt traffic and spike insurance and shipping costs.
It was not immediately clear whether any mines had already been placed in the water before the U.S. action. Citing intelligence sources, CNN reported Iran had laid a few dozen mines in the strait in recent days and had the capability to place hundreds more.
Since Friday, seven vessels, including four tankers and three bulk carriers, have passed through the strait, according to data from trade intelligence platform Kpler.
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The U.S. Navy has been weighing escorts for commercial ships through the strait.
“We’re looking at a range of options there and will figure out how to solve problems as they come to us,” Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine told Fox News Tuesday.
The world is watching to see whether the Navy will step in to try to free up shipping. Immediately after an inaccurate and since-deleted post from Energy Secretary Chris Wright claiming the Navy had escorted a tanker, oil prices fell nearly 12%.
European allies are moving in as well: France sent two frigates to join a European Union-led escort mission for ships through the strait, though their arrival timeline is unclear.
While U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has claimed the U.S. and Israel have “total air dominance” over Iran’s skies, that doesn’t mean the threat from missiles and drones is entirely eliminated yet.
The Navy won’t escort tankers until Iran’s missile and drone threat is eliminated, retired Gen. Jack Keane told FOX Business.
“Makes no sense in terms of the risk when we’re going to finish them off entirely in a few weeks,” he said.
Recognizing the squeeze on prices around the globe, Trump announced Monday the U.S. would remove oil-related sanctions.
“We are also waiving certain oil-related sanctions to reduce prices,” he said during a press conference. “So in some countries, we’re going to take those sanctions off until this straightens out. Then, who knows, maybe we won’t have to put them on.”
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The United States currently maintains sanctions affecting oil Iran, Venezuela, Russia, Syria and North Korea.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to detail what that relief would look like. A 30-day waiver was already recently issued for Russian oil stranded at sea to reach India.
A naval mine costing only a few thousand dollars can cripple or even sink a $2 billion U.S. destroyer.
The danger is not theoretical: In 1988, USS Samuel B. Roberts nearly sank after striking an Iranian mine in the Persian Gulf.
Mine-laying operations are often conducted covertly at night using small vessels such as fishing dhows or fast-attack craft, allowing mines to be deployed with little warning and potentially devastating consequences.
Trump’s Middle East envoy reveals what led to breakdown in Iran talks before Operation Epic Fury
U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff described what he said were early threats and demands from Iran during an interview on “Hannity” Tuesday, as U.S. negotiators and Iranian counterparts explored whether a deal could be reached before talks collapsed — a breakdown that preceded the launch of Operation Epic Fury.
Witkoff offered a behind-the-scenes account of the opening exchanges in the U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations. He said Iranian representatives opened by asserting an “inalienable right to enrich” nuclear fuel — a stance the U.S. delegation opposed by insisting that Iran should not enrich uranium at all.
Witkoff said Iranian negotiators declared they controlled roughly 460 kilograms of enriched uranium to about 60% and that this material could potentially be further enriched toward weapons-grade levels in about a week to 10 days.
He explained that enrichment beyond about 20% serves no civilian purpose and is associated with weaponization.
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Iran’s negotiators told U.S. officials that the United States would not obtain through diplomacy what it could not achieve militarily — a remark he linked to June’s Operation Midnight Hammer, which targeted Iranian nuclear facilities.
Witkoff maintained that the country’s three main enrichment and conversion centers were, in fact, destroyed, but Tehran has not publicly acknowledged such destruction.
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“It was very, very clear to us that with that amount of weapons-grade material, that they had every intention of seeking a weapon. It would not be logical to us to think anything else,” he said.
The United States even offered to help Iran convert its nuclear endeavors to a civil, non-enrichment program, and, “as a little extra, we suggested to them that we would provide fuel to them for free for a long period of time,” said Witkoff.
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But Iran called the offer “an assault on their dignity,” he said, emphasizing that he viewed the stance as “subterfuge” to obscure their advance toward a nuclear weapon.
“That’s how they felt that they would have increased power in the Mideast, and it would have changed the dynamic in the Mideast, and we couldn’t allow it,” he said.
“A second North Korea in the Mideast would have been untenable, and everybody on our foreign policy team knew it, and the president was very clear-minded about it.”
Operation Epic Fury was launched by President Donald Trump as a U.S. and Israeli joint military campaign on February 28, 2026, with the goal being to destroy Iranian missile infrastructure, naval assets and nuclear capabilities to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.