Bessent insists U.S. has "absolute control" of Strait of Hormuz, but free flow of ships may take "weeks or a month"

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Monday morning that the U.S. has "absolute control" of the Strait of Hormuz, as he dismissed Iran's navy as "a band of pirates."

"We have blockaded the ships going into or out of Iranian ports," he said of an ongoing U.S. naval blockade in the region, which he said had left the Iranian economy now in "free fall." 

Bessent denied any U.S. cooperation with Iran for the newly launched Project Freedom operation, under which President Trump said the U.S. military would "guide" commercial vessels stuck for months in the Persian Gulf out through the strait.

U.S. Central Command said two American-flagged commercial ships safely navigated the strait on Monday under the program, but Iran attacked at least one other vessel in the strategic waterway, and few ships were seen entering or exiting the strait on tracking websites.

"If the Iranians want to escalate here, we are willing to escalate," warned Bessent, adding that U.S. forces would only be "firing if fired upon." 

On gas prices, Bessent acknowledged what he called a "short term blip up in prices" affecting American consumers, but he predicted prices would "come down very quickly" once shipping resumes in the Strait of Hormuz, likely "in a matter of weeks or a month."