WASHINGTON, October 22. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump believes that Iran is trying to drive up oil prices in the run-up to the upcoming midterm elections in the US, scheduled for November.

"Iran is doing its best to drive up the price of oil prior to the US Midterm Election," the US leader wrote on Truth Social. "They are even making up fake hits, mines, and everything else, because more oil is coming through the Hormuz Strait now than it did even prior to the beginning of the conflict."

The US midterm elections will take place on November 3. One-third of the Senate and the entire House of Representatives, as well as the governors of 36 states and territories, will be up for election. Republicans currently control both chambers of Congress.

The US and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28. In June, Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding providing for an immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon. However, in the early morning hours of July 8, the US resumed large-scale strikes against Iran, accusing it of violating the terms of the agreements reached on the Strait of Hormuz.

Nearly 25% of global oil trade and about 20% of the liquefied natural gas trade are transported through the strait. The US administration then effectively indicated that it would stop using large-scale military force against Iran and instead seek to economically strangle the country through sanctions.