WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) – The United States is “fine” with some Iranian, Indian and Chinese ships going through the Strait of Hormuz for now, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday, adding that any action to mitigate higher prices would depend on how long the Iran war lasts.
“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,” he told CNBC in an interview.
“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,” Bessent said.
Asked if there were any tools the Trump administration would use to mitigate higher prices and impacts from the war outside of oil reserve releases, Bessent told CNBC “it will depend on the duration of the conflict.”
(Reporting by Susan Heavey; editing by Scott Malone and Katharine Jackson)
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