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US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has said President Donald Trump's "brilliant" blockade strategy in the Strait of Hormuz put Washington in a “very strong position", while also crediting the role of Gulf states in that success.
Mr Burgum said the "blockade is working", after US naval forces began the operation in response to Iran effectively closing the waterway.
"Whether it's, you know, the UAE, Saudi, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar ... all of these countries that immediately came under assault from their neighbour [Iran], the US understands and appreciates deeply, with deep gratitude, the support that we've had from those countries," he added during a session at the Semafor World Economy Summit in Washington.
His comments, which were made before Iran briefly claimed that the strait had been reopened, echoed remarks by Centcom commander Admiral Brad Cooper, who described the UAE, other Gulf states and Jordan as "exceptional teammates".
"They defended Americans and they defended their own country. It is inspiring," he added.
Mr Burgum told the audience that “we’re at an amazing point in history right now”.
Before the Iran war began on February 28, tanker traffic through the strait, through which about 20 per cent of the world’s oil and gas supplies are normally transported, initially fell by about 70 per cent. It effectively came to a standstill by mid-March.
Brent crude surged past $100 per barrel on March 8 for the first time in four years, peaking at $126. The International Energy Agency this week described the crisis as the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.
The International Monetary Fund noted that, if the conflict is short-lived, energy price increases could be limited to 19 per cent this year, but the baseline still reflects a situation “comparable to the shock of the 1970s, in terms of how much oil has been withdrawn from the market”.
"I'm not a pundit and I'm not going to criticise other people that are pundits, but I would just say the track record here of people predicting all the things that they thought were going to happen every day during the last 38 or 39 or 40 days of this conflict generally have turned out to be wrong within a day or two," Mr Burgum said.
While some Gulf states were shielded from the restrictions on shipping, they faced challenges as oil and LNG exports dropped. "I don't even think of Iran any more as a traditional country," Mr Burgum said. "I think of it like a terrorist machine, a terror group that had control of an oilfield."
Despite the negative outlook of international institutions, Mr Burgum said he believed the US economy was well-positioned to tackle the market turmoil. The latest IMF projections cut 2026 global growth to 3.1 per cent, while warning that it could fall to 2 per cent if energy disruptions persist. The fund also raised the prospect of higher inflation.
“There’s no recession coming to the United States," he added. "I mean, that’s one prediction I will make. Because the fundamentals are super strong."
