The US Navy will begin escorting ships through the Strait of Hormuz as soon as “militarily possible”, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Sky News on Thursday.
“That was always in our plans. The U.S. Navy, or perhaps the United Nations, could escort the oil tanker,” Bessent said in the interview.
“I believe that the U.S. Navy, and possibly in conjunction with the United Nations, will escort the ship as soon as it is militarily possible,” he said.
Bessent’s comments came as the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed to navigation due to the U.S.-Israel war against Iran that began on February 28. The strait is the world’s most sensitive chokepoint for oil tankers, and its closure has caused oil prices to soar.
The Trump administration has been suggesting for more than a week that that won’t happen, with U.S. Navy ships escorting oil tankers through the strait.
Earlier Thursday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC in an interview that the Navy was not prepared to escort oil tankers through the strait.
“That will happen relatively soon, but it can’t happen now,” Wright said. “We are completely unprepared. All of our military assets right now are focused on destroying Iran’s offensive capabilities and the manufacturing that provides that offensive capability.”
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he believes the CEOs of major oil companies should send tankers into the narrow strait. Also Wednesday, the U.S. government said: Chub The company announced it would serve as the lead organizer of a federal government-led program to insure ships passing through the strait.
Bessent said Thursday that the United States had spent months and weeks analyzing scenarios leading to “this” war related to the impact on oil shipping.
“As soon as we can ensure safe passage” of the oil tanker with naval escort, he said, “we will do so.”
“We have complete control of the sky,” Bessent said.
“They have no air power and the (Iranian) navy is sinking, literally and figuratively.”
Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said early Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz should remain closed as a “means to put pressure on the enemy.”
