Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday defended strikes on Iran’s infrastructure since the U.S. and Israel began their joint war against the country in February, saying “sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate.”
His comments came just hours after President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that he was giving Iranian leadership 48 hours to open the Strait of Hormuz or risk U.S. military strikes that “will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!”
Bessent defended Trump’s rhetoric, saying it’s “the only language the Iranians understand.”
I have had folk who wouldn’t de-escalate until i literally punched them in the mouth or sued their companies out of existence so like, I get it but Iran has repeatedly demonstrated the opposite.