Tensions between the West and Iran and the sanctions that come with them are adding 25 cents a gallon to already pricey gasoline, according to the Energy Policy Research Foundation, a Washington nonprofit organization.

Sanctions have cut Iranian exports by 300,000 barrels a day, which hikes crude by $10 a barrel, which in turn, translates into an added 25 cents per gallon of gasoline in the U.S., the foundation finds, according to the Christian Science Monitor.

The U.S. and Europe have applied economic sanctions against Iran for its nuclear ambitions, and Iran has already halted oil shipments to the U.K. and France before a European ban on Iranian crude begins in July.
Some trade experts point out that sanctions hurt those who impose them, and the government hasn't properly warned the country of the side effects of its policies.

“It’s a legitimate argument to say the benefits of the aim of these sanctions — convincing Iran not to build nuclear weapons – outweigh the economic costs,” says Bill Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC), a Washington lobbying organization, the Monitor adds.

“What is not acceptable is to pretend there are no costs, or to ignore them.”

Nationally, a gallon of regular gasoline is averaging nearly $4 a gallon, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge, and prices are due to continue climbing as summer approaches, when Americans drive more and also when refineries switch to more expensive blends.

"There's always built-in increase, and it's going to be accentuated this year," Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service, tells the Associated Press.