WASHINGTON, United States — The price of diesel — the vital fuel used for road hauling, agriculture and construction — hit a new record Friday in the United States, a motorists' association said, amid disruption from the US war with Iran.

 

The price is now $5.85 a gallon, up from $3.71 a year ago, the AAA said.

 

Six months into the Middle East war and with weeks to go before November's key US midterm elections, voters are increasingly feeling the pinch from persistent inflation.

 

Prices at the pump have jumped since US-Israeli strikes targeting Iran from late February sparked Tehran's retaliation in blocking the Strait of Hormuz — a key waterway for energy transit.

 

Global oil prices have since remained high, and surged this week on a fresh escalation in fighting.

 

Diesel is used by farmers to run equipment, and it also powers the trucks needed to bring food to grocery stores.

 

US farmers faced a double whammy of surging fertilizer and diesel prices as the spring planting season got underway, worrying that this would hurt their livelihoods.

 

The Independent Grocers Alliance estimates that fuel-related costs can account for 15 to 30 per cent of the total cost for some food products.