AJ
⚡️ — Treasury Secretary Bessent is on a news campaign to push the US narrative on Iran, but should US pay for maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz?
➡️ US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has become a popular figure on US media recently, as he attempted to promote the sanctions operation against Iran to the American public and various news hosts, including Fox News and NewsMax, early on Wednesday morning local time.
🔹 Bessent started by saying: “We are going through an energy shock right now – Ukraine has decided that they want to blow up Russian energy assets and refined products, so that is creating an upward price pressure on a global basis.” (Bessent is trying to say the shock isn’t caused by the US blockade and subsequent Iranian blockade in the Persian Gulf).
🔹 When the Fox news host said that Putin had told Iran: “We got your back,” and asked what the message was to the Russians, the reply from the Secretary was: “My message to everyone is ‘Stay away.'”
🔹 Secretary Bessent also claimed: “We have created new authorities for Treasury to sanction under aviation, maritime and digital assets.”
🔹 Following up with NewsMax, Bessent said the goal isn’t necessarily to collapse the regime: “It could happen – maybe the people will rise up,” he said, almost echoing a US President Donald Trump Truth Social which also said the Iranians should rise up.
🔹 The Secretary said some of the Iranian leaders are hardened military veterans: “My experience over the past 20 or 30 years is that in general people like having their heads attached to their necks, and whether they turn on each other, or whether the people turn on them, or whether something happens to them in a military action, I think the fact they started firing and started kinetic action again just shows how frustrated they are.”
➡️ Bessent failed to state that the reason the Iranian’s are firing at vessels in the Strait of Hormuz is because the US signed and then two days later broke an agreement that allowed Iran and Oman control and administration of the waterway, only to launch a secret Freedom Project to evacuate ships that had been held in the blockades.
🔹 US taxpayers are footing the bill, not for the US and Israel launching attacks on Iran, but because the US verbally agreed to a ceasefire in Islamabad in April, after Trump had said for week’s that Iran had been asking for one, only for Vice President JD Vance to break the agreement within hours, saying when boarding a plane to the US: “Israel are not part of the agreement.”
🔹 Israel went on to launch a large-scale strike the following day, allegedly targeting known Hezbollah hideouts and strongholds, claiming to have killed or injured hundreds of Hezbollah fighters in the process, however, the attacks also resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties in Deir, southern Beirut, causing outrage and condemnation from almost every nation in the world, other than the US during emergency-scheduled UN meetings in New York.
🔹 Within hours of Israel beginning the strikes, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, among others in the delegation that met with the US in Islamabad, had arrived in Tehran, and Araghchi took to X during the flight to announce that the Strait of Hormuz would be closed until further notice.
🔹 Iran had began using fast attack boats, missiles, and drones, to target vessels that didn’t comply with the Iranian Persian Gulf Authorities, a company that was founded to mange the Strait of Hormuz in 2026, already sanctioned by Bessent, who had later any ships who complied with their orders would be allowed to transit.
🔹 Day’s later and the US Central Command had redeployed naval forces to blockade the Strait of Hormuz from near the Indian ocean and Omani Gulf, before attempting to open a narrow route in Omani waters that vessels could transit while both blockades were enforced by each nation.
🔹 Iranian monitoring had been able to view movements, issuing warnings to vessels that were being escorted by US fighters and helicopters, while aerial refuelers were stationed nearby to allow continuous air support, but even if Trump’s claim of 1,500 ships have been moved out, it still accounts for at least.1.5% of successful attacks on vessels, however, if that figure is realistically lower, cited by tankertrackers.com etc, then damage is caused to at least 10-20% of vessels.
🔹 Costs of providing the aerial support, including refuelling, the launch of munitions if needed, to ‘attempt’ to intercept drones and missiles, are being paid by the US taxpayer, but the US taxpayer is not benefiting by the prices as oil rose to $97 per barrel during the recent two days of strikes, and prices the pump are likely to increase further.
