Ready for gas prices to come back down?

Sen. Chris Murphy offered a bleak prognosis for ending the war in Iran, now in its eighth month, after a visit to the Middle East this week.

“A deal does not sound imminent,” Murphy told reporters on Thursday.

“It puts a strain on your budget,” said Norwalk driver Olivier Jean-Pierre. “You’re just trying to make ends meet.”

Murphy met with Qatari diplomats trying to broker a deal to end the conflict and get oil tankers moving through the Strait of Hormuz. But he said both sides appear far apart because the Iranians want a deal similar to this summer’s failed ceasefire agreement.

“It will require an opening of the strait,” Murphy said. “It will require us to give billions in sanctions relief and release of frozen funds.”

Beyond rising prices, Murphy said he saw extensive damage to the American embassy in Saudi Arabia. Large parts of the building are now unusable, he said.

“It was extraordinary," he said.

Murphy’s account is at odds with what President Donald Trump says.

“We’re doing extremely well in the Islamic Republic of Iran, very well,” Trump said on Tuesday. “They have no military; it’s shot. The whole place is shot.”

Murphy accused the Pentagon of a “cover-up” regarding damage to military installations in the region.

Despite his position on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Murphy was denied access to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the forward headquarters of U.S. Central Command, which houses around 10,000 American troops.

“This cover-up is real. [Defense Secretary Pete] Hegseth is hiding the cost and the consequences of this war,” the senator said. “Not only had I been denied access to the bases, that military leadership wasn’t going to even speak with me.”

A senior Pentagon official insisted there is no cover-up.

“Sen. Murphy’s office was informed before his trip to the Middle East that he would not receive Department of War support to access Al Udeid Air Base, consistent with the Secretary of War’s directive on travel restrictions in the region ordered on March 3, 2026,” the official said in a statement. “The Department applies the Secretary’s guidance evenly.”

Murphy’s visit comes less than a month before the midterm elections, where polls show anger over rising prices could flip control of Congress to Democrats.

“We’re going to have an ability to decide whether or not we’re going to fund this war,” Murphy said. “And whether we’re going to pass a defense authorization bill that allows this war to continue.”

For now, drivers here at home are caught in the middle.

“I think I’ve become more conscious of where I drive to kind of decide to do things in the area, as opposed to kind of go, come back, go, come back,” said Christine Keane, of Darien.