U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. File
| Photo Credit: AP
The U.S. Navy, perhaps with an international coalition, will escort vessels through the Strait of Hormuz when it is militarily possible, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Sky News in an interview on Thursday (March 12, 2026).
“My belief, that as soon as it is militarily possible, the U.S. Navy, perhaps with an international coalition, will be escorting vessels through,” Mr. Bessent said.
The plan to escort ships would go ahead as soon as the U.S. has “complete control of the skies and … (Iran’s) rebuilding capabilities for the missiles completely degraded,” he said.
U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and the subsequent response by Tehran have widened regional tensions and paralyzed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting vital oil and gas flows in West Asia and sending energy prices higher.
Raising the stakes for the global economy, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it will block oil shipments from the Gulf unless the U.S. and Israeli attacks cease.
“There are, in fact, tankers coming through now, Iranian tankers, I believe some Chinese flag tankers have come through. So we know that they have not mined the straits,”Mr. Bessent said.
‘No price would make Iran war unaffordable’
Mr. Bessent said “absolutely not” when asked by Sky News on whether there was a price that could cause him to confront President Donald Trump and say the Iran war was no longer affordable.
On Wednesday (March 11, 2026), Reuters reported officials from the Trump administration estimated during a congressional briefing this week that the first six days of the war on Iran had cost the United States at least $11.3 billion.
Published – March 13, 2026 02:26 am IST
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