Investing.com -- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent just put an expiration date on the world’s most critical maritime oil chokepoint, declaring the Strait of Hormuz will become a “worthless piece of water” within two years. Speaking at the G20, Bessent outlined an aggressive campaign to economically strangle Iran, heavily anchored by a surge in U.S. energy production that he claims will rapidly render the strategic waterway obsolete.

Bessent’s most explosive claim centered on the imminent geopolitical irrelevance of the Strait of Hormuz. Driven by a surge in U.S. oil production—up 1.6 to 2.2 million barrels per day since President Trump took office—Bessent projected that global reliance on the Persian Gulf chokepoint is ending. Within 24 months, he predicts overland pipelines will completely bypass the strait. If realized, this infrastructure shift would strip Tehran of its primary asymmetric military threat, reducing a historic flashpoint to a "worthless" expanse of water.

The bold rhetoric on Hormuz was paired with immediate, hardline financial threats. Unveiling a "zero tolerance" policy designed to force a total economic blockade on Tehran, Bessent warned that the U.S. is preparing to sanction global airline leasing companies that facilitate Iranian aviation operations.

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  The Treasury has already identified specific offshore accounts in the British Virgin Islands sheltering Iranian assets.

  
  


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  A new wave of crackdowns targeting complicit financial institutions will roll out over the next two weeks.

  
  


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  Noting that Iran sits on the world’s third-largest energy reserves, Bessent suggested that funds seized from the regime could be directly redirected to the Iranian people or used to compensate victims of terror.

  
  

The administration’s blockade strategy is rapidly securing international backing. Bessent touted unified support from the European Union, the ECB, the UK, the UAE, and Bahrain, while confirming that Washington is actively engaged in private, backchannel discussions with Beijing to secure Chinese cooperation.

Pivoting from Middle Eastern containment to broader financial strategy, Bessent highlighted the recent dominance of the U.S. bond market and pointed south, characterizing a Western Hemisphere economic renaissance led by Argentina as a "generational opportunity."