US Navy 'to escort tankers through Strait of Hormuz', key Trump official says as oil prices spike again

Amid the ongoing war in Iran, the rogue regime has closed the vital shipping lane and caused oil prices to spike to around $100-a-barrel.

Iran, led by the new Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has threatened to take action to increase the cost of crude even further, telling the world to get ready for "$200-a-barrel oil" on Wednesday.

US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has told Sky News that he believes that his nation's navy will soon be deployed to the key waterway to prevent ships from being attacked.

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Suspected Iranian drone strikes hit three ships on Wednesday as the Islamic Republic tightens its grip on the strait.

Mr Bessent said: "My belief is that as soon as it is militarily possible, the US Navy, perhaps with an international coalition, will be escorting vessels through."

He added: "There are, in fact, tankers coming through now, Iranian tankers, I believe some Chinese flag tankers have come through. So we know that they have not mined the straits."

Mr Bessent was speaking after it was rumoured that the Iranian regime had placed mines in the strait - with Donald Trump announcing on Tuesday that the US Air Force had struck 16 "inactive mine-laying boats".

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, issued a statement via state television on Thursday to declare that the "lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz" should still be used by Iran going forward.

The statement continued by insisting that Iran would not refrain from avenging the "blood of its martyrs", after an alleged US strike near a school killed 168 people, including 110 children.

The decision to allow the anchor to deliver the written statement in place of a personal appearance by Khamenei has fuelled rumours surrounding the Supreme Leader's condition.

Earlier on Thursday, the US energy secretary, speaking to CNBC, said escorts through the strait will "happen relatively soon but it can't happen now.

Chris Wright added: "We're simply not ready."