US may ‘escalate to de-escalate’ attacks against Iran, says Scott Bessent

2026.03.22 16:50 US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Photo: Getty Images via AFP The United States may need to “escalate” its attacks against Iran to be able to wind down the war, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday, after US President Donald Trump gave seemingly contradictory trajectories for the US military campaign. Trump on Saturday threatened to “obliterate” Iranian energy plants if Tehran did not fully open the pivotal Strait of Hormuz, just a day after saying US objectives were “very close” and that he was considering “winding down” the war. Asked on NBC’s Meet the Press if Trump was winding down or escalating the war, Bessent said: “They’re not mutually exclusive. Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate.” “This is the only language the Iranians understand,” he argued. Iran’s threats against shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of global gas and oil supplies flow, have caused energy prices to soar around the world. Bessent, as part of efforts to abate market turmoil, has temporarily lifted US sanctions on Iranian and Russian oil that had already been loaded onto ships. But the move has produced some backlash, with critics saying it will provide funding to Iran at the same time that the US-Israeli conflict is ongoing. Asked on NBC about the contradiction, Bessent defended the move as helping to alleviate pressure on US partners and lower the price Iran can receive for its oil. “That Iranian oil was always going to be sold to the Chinese. It was going to be sold at a discount … So which is better? If oil prices spiked to US$150 and they [Iran] were getting 70 per cent of that, or oil prices below 100?” The spike in crude prices has also seen costs at the pump across the United States quickly rise, creating potential political risks for the president just months before the midterm elections. Bessent on Sunday refused to put a timeline on when Americans should expect prices to moderate, while arguing that the el

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