US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that Washington is “fine” with some Iranian, Indian and Chinese ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, adding that any steps to address higher prices would depend on how long the Iran war continues.
“We are seeing more and more of the fuel ships start to go through. The Iranian ships have been getting out already, and we’ve let that happen to supply the rest of the world. We’ve seen Indian ships go out now…we believe some Chinese ships have gone out,” said Bessent in an interview with CNBC.
“That should start ramping up before there are any of the flotillas or protective armadas in the Gulf. So we think that there will be a natural opening that the Iranians are letting out. And for now, we’re fine with that. We want the world to be well supplied,” he added.
When asked whether the Trump administration had any tools to mitigate rising prices and the impact of the war beyond releasing oil reserves, Bessent told CNBC, “it will depend on the duration of the conflict.”
