Bessent on Meet the Press: ‘Escalate to De-Escalate’  Scott Bessent said US-Israeli strikes are focused on weakening Iran’s fortified positions along the Strait of Hormuz as Donald Trump presses a deadline for Tehran to “fully open, without threat” the critical global shipping waterway. He stated the US will “take whatever steps it takes” to eliminate Iran’s military capabilities, including its ability to project power abroad; however, it remains to be seen just how degraded Iran’s missile program is. “There has been a campaign… to soften up the Iranian fortifications… that’s going to continue until they are completely demolished… Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate,” he asserted. As the conflict enters its fourth week, and amid rising oil and gasoline prices which have intensified economic pressure at home, Bessent framed the surge as a temporary cost tied to a longer-term greater objective, stating: “Let’s just pick 50 days of temporary elevated prices… Prices will come off on the other side for 50 years of not having an Iranian regime with a nuclear weapon.” But then the usual more open-ended caveats: “I don’t know whether it’s going to be 50 days. I don’t know whether it’s going to be a hundred […]