Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says U.S. and Iran could agree within 1 to 2 days to reopen Strait of Hormuz

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that the United States and Iran could reach an agreement within a day or two that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and allow normal shipping through the major oil and trade passageway, according to remarks reported by The Washington Times.

Bessent described the timeline as aiming for midweek, framing the potential deal as a near-term diplomatic and economic step intended to reduce disruptions tied to the strait. In his comments, he presented the Strait of Hormuz as an oil choke point whose operating status has major spillover effects on regional security and global energy flows.

The remarks place the strait at the center of ongoing U.S.-Iran engagement, with Bessent speaking in his capacity as head of the Treasury Department and addressing a topic that combines national security and market stability. In the reported account, the Treasury secretary’s characterization suggests negotiations have reached a stage where an agreement could be finalized quickly, if talks proceed as expected.

Reopening the Strait of Hormuz, as described by Bessent, would mean a shift from restricted or disrupted movement back to what he called normal shipping through the passage. That change would affect not only vessel operators and shipping companies but also customers, refiners, and downstream industries that rely on predictable transit through the narrow waterway.

The Strait of Hormuz, linking the Persian Gulf to the broader world’s shipping lanes, has long been a focus of international security planning due to its strategic importance. The reported U.S. interest in restoring “normal shipping” underscores that the practical effects of any diplomatic step extend beyond political messaging to day-to-day logistics and risk management for maritime trade.

While the reported comments indicate an expedited timeline, the details of any proposed framework and the conditions required for implementation were not specified in the account summarized by the outlet. A short timetable would still require concrete agreement on operational and compliance steps to ensure that the strait functions without interruption and that shipping traffic can resume under agreed terms.

For now, the public record described in the report is limited to Bessent’s stated expectations for a potential settlement by midweek. The next development will likely be whether U.S. and Iranian officials provide additional specifics on the agreement’s scope and how quickly changes can be carried out to normalize shipping through the strait.