Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on Thursday he plans to use the effective closure of the strategic waterway, through which 20% of the world's oil supplies passes, as leverage against the US and Israel.
Speaking to Sky News' Wilfred Frost, Scott 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."
As the war nears the two-week mark, Mr Khamenei, in a fiery opening address, promised retaliation for US-Israeli attacks, saying he "will not refrain from avenging" the blood of their "martyrs" - as a new wave of Israeli strikes hit Beirut.
Iran's bombardment of shipping traffic and energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf had earlier pushed oil back above $100 a barrel, with stocks dropping worldwide on Thursday.
The hike in oil prices came despite the shock announcement the previous day that developed countries would release 400 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves - nearly half from the US.
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During the wide-ranging interview, Mr Bessant was interrupted and told by an aide: "The president wants you."
He stayed in the situation room, an intelligence facility in the West Wing of the White House, for around two hours before resuming the interview.
When asked if the escort had been discussed, he did not deny it, saying: "Your words, not mine."
Speaking after the interview, Mr Frost said that while the market isn't expecting the safe passage of ships in any meaningful way in the days ahead, Mr Bessent's implication in the interview might suggest otherwise.
Earlier on Thursday, the US energy secretary, speaking to CNBC, ruled out the possibility that the US will imminently take action to escort oil traffic through the strait.
"It'll happen relatively soon but it can't happen now," Chris Wright said.
"We're simply not ready."
In the interview, Mr Bessent also mentioned that the war has so far cost the US around $11bn.
Mr Frost asked the treasury secretary if there was a price that could cause him to confront US President Donald Trump and say the war is no longer affordable.
He replied: "Absolutely not."
The economic turmoil comes in the wake of a row between Washington and London.
Mr Trump hit out at the UK again last week, saying the US does not need anyone to "join wars after we've already won" following its initial refusal to allow the US to launch its initial attacks on Iran from British bases.
Sir Keir Starmer later granted the US use of British facilities for "defensive" action against Iranian missile sites.
Questioned on the special relationship and whether Sir Keir had put lives at risk with his response to the Iran war, Mr Bessent, who has previously lived in London, said: "We delayed being able to fully implement the military plan, and I think that the main concern was the use of base Diego Garcia, and the US B-2s had to do a 37-hour round trip rather than, I think it's about a three, three-and-a-half-hour round trip and constantly refuelling.
"So I think any delay causes an increase in risk."
He added: "President Trump is the commander-in-chief of US forces. Being in the situation room with him, he so solemnly takes that leadership role in terms of his commitment to maintaining the lives of our servicemen.
"Anything that upsets that, upsets him, and I think that's what got the very strong reaction."
But Mr Bessent also recognised that the two nations have a "great historical relationship".
When asked how unhappy Mr Trump is with the prime minister right now, he said: "Belatedly, the prime minister offered to put resources in the region. We have a long-term relationship."
He noted that while there will be "some bumps in the road", he thinks the relationship will "eventually get back on track".
On whether Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor should testify to Congress, the US treasury secretary said: "That's a matter for Congress."
He added: "If Congress requests for you to come, you should come."
Lord Mandelson was sacked from his job as the UK's ambassador to the US over his links to Jeffrey Epstein.
The ex-Labour cabinet minister has previously denied any wrongdoing over his relationship with the paedophile financier.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform had asked Andrew to cooperate with its investigation into Epstein's sex trafficking operations in November.
He failed to respond to their request for an interview and has previously denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.
The full interview of "The Master Investor Podcast with Wilfred Frost" is available to watch on YouTube or to listen wherever you get your podcasts.
A metal battering ram known as "the big red key" was the first thing to enter their premises, followed by the scream of "Police!", and officers with helmets and shields.
This was a punch into the organised distribution of class A drugs known as "county lines", described as "one of our most exploitative criminal models" by the man who co-ordinated this UK-wide crackdown.
A total of 2,180 people were arrested but there were also nearly 800 children discovered who needed to be safeguarded; many are thought to have been exploited into selling drugs on the UK's streets.
Sky News joined Hampshire Constabulary, along with their secret weapon, a police dog called Major, who can sniff out traces of cocaine and heroin even in a flat that reeked of cat faeces and weed.
After watching her door being smashed open, a woman was led away in handcuffs and at first glance around the neglected property there seemed little trace of the criminal gang police suspected of using it as a base to prepare and distribute drugs.
That was until a handgun was found in a drawer under the TV, one of 121 seized across the county, along with a bayonet and a machete.
There was a set of scales for weighing drugs and, on the floor, a driving licence covered in white powder belonging to an Iranian man with a London address.
Evidence was bagged up and intelligence shared with officers in London. This intensive week of action, happening in forces across the country, is designed to act as a disruptive shock to organised criminals in the drug-dealing business.
Bodycam footage from other forces showed the discovery of cannabis farms, blocks of cocaine, large wads of money and on a raid in South Wales, a man trying to escape from his upstairs window wearing only his underpants.
Police also seized swords, a crossbow, a gold bar, a gold suitcase and gold teeth.
However, this nationwide week of action is one of many co-ordinated drugs busts that have gone before it - and the figures for arrests and the number of county lines closed, this time 335 across the UK, are remarkably similar to the numbers in previous operations.
Despite seizing 10,500 wraps of class A drugs, 15,000 cannabis plants and £1.5m in cash, there is a question over whether it makes much of a dent in this industry.
The key feature of county lines drug dealing is the use of dedicated and marketed deal phone lines, mostly for the supply of crack cocaine and heroin to addicts and often hand prepared and delivered by exploited children.
According to the National County Lines Coordination Centre the number of lines each year across the UK has risen, from 4,503 in 2020/21 to 6,544 in 2024/25, driven by an increased number of local lines being opened - lines that do not cross police borders.
However, with the increased threat of prosecution under modern slavery legislation, the number of children recorded as being used by these gangs has fallen, down 8% last year to 2,659.
That runs alongside a drop in recorded knife crime and there was a 25% drop in hospital admissions for stabbings in the areas where large quantities of class A drugs originate.
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Paul Brogden, the Metropolitan Police commander who co-ordinated the week of action, told Sky News that county lines is stiil "one of our most exploitative criminal models, it's men of violence and also getting children drawn into really awkward and difficult situations in terms of drug dealing".
But there are encouraging signs, he said, such as "seeing the age at which children are involved in county lines go gradually up".
"Levels of violence associated with county lines is down, homicide rates are down, gun offending is down, so these are some impacts of the county lines programme beyond just closure of drug dealing lines," he added.
These are all promising trends, and this will have been a bad week for some bad people - but where lines have been disrupted, it's likely more will reopen. It's a cycle of addiction and violence that is hard to break.
What's more, criminals continue to evolve. Last year, there were only 89 social media lines reported; this year, that figure increased to 429.
As US-Israeli strikes on Iran have sent the oil price soaring and raised questions about the American appetite for a prolonged price shock, Russia is already reaping the benefits of higher oil revenues.
The transformation in Russian fortunes, literal and metaphoric, has been dramatic. Just a fortnight ago, Vladimir Putin was under increasing pressure as sanctions tightened.
Today, with plentiful supplies of crude oil unconstrained by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Russia is cashing in.
Not only has the price of Urals crude soared, but the discount Russia was forced to offer as a consequence of sanctions has been erased, delivering a windfall to the Kremlin and its campaign against Ukraine.
Russian oil revenues fell 18% last year, according to the Centre for Research & Clean Air (CREA), and appeared to be declining further in January, placing genuine pressure on the Russian economy.
At a stroke, the attacks on Iran have eased the pressure, with revenues increasing 17% in the last two weeks and exports from northern Russian ports up 24%.
The change in fortune can be illustrated by the passage of a single vessel in the Russian shadow fleet.
In February, Sky News intercepted the Kousai, a Sierra Leone-flagged tanker, as it passed through the Strait of Dover.
With a capacity of around 750,000 barrels, its cargo was worth around $40m when it was loaded with crude at Ust-Luga in the Baltic on 2 February.
By the time it passed Dover, eight days later, it was potentially worth $42m, as Urals crude traded at $56 a barrel, $13 below Brent crude.
Nine days into the Iranian war, Urals reached a peak of more than $100 a barrel, so as the Kousai passed Sri Lanka en route to India on 9 March, its cargo was worth $75m. On Thursday morning, as it approached Paradip, it was back to $65m, reflecting a barrel price of $87.
Events of the last fortnight have alleviated pressure that has been building since the invasion of Ukraine to curb Russian oil revenue.
Sanctions from the UK, EU, Australia, Canada and the US have targeted thousands of Russian individuals and companies, and hundreds of tankers in the so-called "shadow fleet" it relies on to move crude around the world.
A lift from sanctions
With Western nations closed for business, India and China became the biggest customers for Russian crude, but US sanctions against New Delhi introduced in February appeared to have delivered a serious blow.
Last week, however, the US offered India a 30-day waiver to those restrictions, a tacit acknowledgement that, with 20% of global supply choked off by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Indian demand could further push up prices.
Russia is also benefiting from the interruption of supply to China, which sources close to half of its oil imports from Gulf states, currently unable to send tankers through the Gulf.
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"The spike in energy prices triggered by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is boosting the Kremlin's oil and gas revenues, helping fund its war chest. In effect, geopolitical turmoil and policy loopholes are handing Russia a windfall just as sanctions were beginning to bite," said Isaac Levy of CREA.
"The US waiver allowing India to keep buying Russian oil from sanctioned companies will blunt the impact of sanctions. Discounts on Russian crude have almost vanished, and tankers that were idling are now preparing to unload at Indian ports again."
The longer the Iran conflict goes on, the more Russia is likely to profit.
It is the closest any such "cultivated meat" product has yet come to approval for human consumption in the UK, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said today as it published an update on "innovative" foods.
Other products like edible insects, 3D-printed chocolate, vegetables with extra vitamins and cheese that is "brewed" in a lab could also reach the public in roughly the next 15 years, the regulator said.
"The science enabling these innovations is exciting and our food system is changing at a rapid pace," Dr Thomas Vincent, deputy director of innovation at the FSA, told Sky News.
Last year the agency was awarded £1.6m by the government to develop a new system to ensure these novel foods are safe to eat.
It followed complaints by the industry that Britain's approval process was too slow to keep up with rapid innovation.
Dr Vincent added: "No new foods reach UK shelves unless they meet our high food standards, so the public can be assured that the food is safe and what it says it is."
But the pioneers of these new products have allowed limited previews. Sky News signed a waiver to try pork meatballs grown in a laboratory, and found them authentically crispy and oozing fatty juices.
The industry has high hopes that the meats can feed a growing global population with a lower environmental impact, since they don't need the land, food or water demanded by a herd of pigs or cattle.
So far it has made more progress with meat products like mince, that can be mixed with other ingredients, than it has with whole cuts like steaks or filets, that have structures that are harder to replicate.
But producers still need to overcome "consumer scepticism" and the challenge of scaling up, the FSA said.
Dr Sarah Najera Espinosa, of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said novel technologies could "not only help reduce some of the health and environmental pressures we face, but could also create new jobs and strengthen our food resilience by bringing more production back home".
But she also warned of "trade-offs" - amid concerns about the high costs and impact on farming.
What is lab-grown meat?
So-called "cultivated meat" - the term the industry prefers to "lab grown" - is made by taking a tiny clump of cells from plants or animals, which are then fed in a lab so that they multiply, in the same way they naturally would in a growing muscle or plant.
Meanwhile certain types of insects are also worming their way into our food chain.
They can be sold whole, or in future are expected to be mixed into familiar foods like a burger to displace some of the meat or add protein.
Four species are already on sale in the UK, under temporary arrangements after Britain's exit from the EU, while they undergo further safety assessments.
Insects can contain structures similar to some crustaceans, with allergens one of the things assessed for safety.
The FSA will also test new foods for things like carcinogens, toxicity, and to ensure there are no adverse impacts from "ultra-processing".
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Further off in the future are technologies that use plants as tiny factories to produce specific food ingredients, and "gas fermentation" which uses microbes to convert captured carbon dioxide into edible proteins.
The industry is seeking to keep the public onside with mysterious new food types by providing regular updates - in an attempt to learn from previous backlash in Europe to genetically modified food, which was successfully introduced elsewhere.
Professor Jonathan Jones from The Sainsbury Laboratory said: "The main lesson from the 90s is that where innovation is deployed about which consumers might have concerns, clear labelling and clear communication are required."
Warner Brothers has 30 Oscar nominations in total, more than any of its rivals - and mainly thanks to these two films, with period vampire horror Sinners alone picking up a record-breaking 16 nods.
But after a century of filmmaking influence, the studio is poised for a takeover so vast it could reshape Hollywood's structure, power dynamics, and even creative output.
The Paramount Skydance deal, struck for an eye-watering $110bn, subject to reviews, would bring together two of the city's five legacy studios.
Many in the industry are now looking to what happens after the Oscars ceremony.
"This is a very exciting time for Warner Brothers," says Brian Welk, senior business reporter for entertainment site IndieWire. "They are most likely going to win best picture with one of their two films, and yet we don't know the future of what the film people in charge will be able to do moving forward, or will they still be around or still have that same autonomy?"
Paramount, led by billionaire Larry Ellison's son, David, has political connections to Donald Trump's administration. The deal is still subject to approval from regulators, and both Democrats and Republicans have raised concerns it could result in higher prices and fewer choices for customers.
Cinema operators have also said combining large Hollywood studios could cost jobs and reduce the number of films released in theatres.
"These are two very aligned companies that have a lot of similar structures," says Brian. "They have two lots that are both in Hollywood.
"There's many people who are wondering, are Paramount and Warner Brothers even going to keep both lots? Are they going to lay off thousands of people?"
Deal could 'threaten livelihoods', union says
On Thursday, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters labour union said it had warned the Department of Justice (DoJ) in a report that the proposed takeover posed a direct threat to film and television workers nationwide, including almost 15,000 of its rank-and-file members in the industry.
It has called for the deal to be blocked unless "substantial and enforceable safeguards are put in place to increase domestic production and protect jobs".
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"This merger threatens the livelihoods of the very workers who built these studios into industry giants," said Teamsters general president Sean M O'Brien. "We've seen what happens when corporations consolidate power: jobs disappear, production leaves American communities, and workers pay the price.
"The DoJ has a responsibility to stop deals that eliminate competition and harm working families."
Sky News has contacted Warner Bros and Paramount for comment.
Asked about the deal and uncertainty in the industry at the Oscar Wilde Awards, hosted by the US-Ireland Alliance ahead of the Oscars, filmmaker JJ Abrams said things feel "shaky and unsettled" at the moment.
The producer, best known for the Star Trek reboot and two of the new Star Wars films, continued: "I think it's not necessarily human nature to realise that things can settle and things can get better and I feel like staying hopeful is very important. Doing the best work you can is really important.
"There are so many brilliant people here and I hope that, especially in Hollywood, that we're able to allow for production with tax incentives to remain here, for post-production to remain here. There's so much work and so much brilliant talent in the city that is really not getting a chance because productions are choosing to go elsewhere because of incentives.
"So, I'm really hopeful that we are able to get to a place where movies and shows continuously and increasingly can be made here."
While the deal is not set in stone yet, for Hollywood this is huge, not only in terms of the US film industry but the wider media landscape.
Warner Brothers will be enjoying its moment in the sun at the Oscars on Sunday - but things could be very different for ceremonies to come.