Is Bessent Planning to Bury the Strait of Hormuz?

Source: Remarks by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (U.S. CNBC network)

Date: August 4, 2026

Bombshell Statement: U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the Strait of Hormuz will lose its strategic importance and become merely an

“ordinary waterway”

within two years.

The Stated Rationale:

The U.S. side claims that Iran’s control over the strait, and its use as a tool of pressure and a pillar of deterrence, will accelerate the diversification of alternative routes, prompting regional states to shift 50–70% of their energy exports toward pipelines and alternative overland routes.

How Realistic Is This?

Timing is the key test. Restructuring the massive infrastructure required to transport global energy within just two years is economically and logistically almost impossible. This suggests that the statement may be part of political fearmongering or an attempt to prepare the ground for arrangements aimed at redrawing regional energy routes.

Impact on the Region:

The Gulf states and Iraq would remain the most heavily affected by any disruption or change in the status of the strait. This raises questions about whether there are quiet efforts underway to re-engineer regional energy corridors.

The Axis of Resistance Perspective:

These statements are rooted in a logic of “forward flight” and media exaggeration. Iran’s assertion of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, together with the armed forces opposed to the U.S. project, has established a genuine strategic deterrence equation that has challenged the Western monopoly over maritime routes.

The notion that the world can dispense with its most vital energy artery within two years is nothing more than economic fantasy and speculation, attempting to circumvent a fundamental reality: the sovereignty of national will over the region’s maritime chokepoints is the effective force that has imposed its own equations on Washington—and empty statements will not erase it.