Washington. US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant on Sunday said the US needs to “escalate” aggressive strikes against Iran to deter the effects of war, after President Donald Trump presented a contradictory path to the US military campaign.

On Saturday, Trump said the US objective was “very close” and that he was considering ending the war, but on Sunday Tehran threatened to “destroy” Iran’s energy facilities if it did not fully open the Strait of Hormuz.

“They’re not contradictory,” Besant said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” when asked if Trump was preparing to end the war. Sometimes, we have to fight to stop war. It is the only language understood by Iranians. ”

Iran’s threat against ships that pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which carries gas and oil supplies for a fifth of the world’s world, has sent energy prices soaring around the world.

Besant said US sanctions on Iranian and Russian oil already loaded onto ships were temporarily lifted in an effort to ease market turmoil. But the move has sparked some backlash, with critics saying it would provide Iran with financial aid at a time when the U.S.-Israel conflict is ongoing.

Asked by NBC about the contradiction, Besant defended the move as easing pressure on U.S. partners and helping lower the price Iran could receive for its oil.

“That Iranian oil was always sold to the Chinese and it was going to the Chinese market at a discount. Is it better for the price of oil to reach $150 a barrel and Iran gets 70% of it, or is it better to get the price of oil below $100? Of course, the latter will be fine.

The rise in crude oil prices has also seen costs at the pump rise sharply across the United States. That poses a potential political risk for the president just months before the midterm elections.

Besant on Sunday refused to give a timeline for when Americans should expect prices to moderate, arguing that “American voters would agree that removing Iran’s nuclear threat would be worth the temporary cost.” ”

“I don’t know whether the war will be 30 days or 50 days,” he said when asked if the war would continue or end. I don’t even know if it’s going to last 100 days.

“But it would be worth it to have 50 years of peace in the Middle East and to know that the Iranian regime has been discredited.”

Meanwhile, the exiled son of Iran’s last Shah Reza Pahlavi urged Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to target Iran’s civilian infrastructure.

“The regime in Iran must be dismantled, Iran must be defended,” Pahlavi, an Iranian-American who wields influence abroad but holds no official position, said in a post on X Sunday. “