U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arrives to testify during a Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on April 22, 2026 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla | Getty ImagesTreasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that “many” oil-rich U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf have requested a financial backstop amid economic turbulence from the war with Iran. Bessent’s comments go further than White House assertions to CNBC on Tuesday, where an official said the U.S. had not yet been formally asked to establish a currency swap line by the United Arab Emirates, only that there had been discussions about the topic.Such a swap line would provide the UAE or other Gulf nations with liquidity in the U.S. dollar, but comes loaded with political risk as U.S. consumers weather higher prices from the war for food, gas and other everyday purchases. “Many of our Gulf allies have requested swap lines,” Bessent said. “Swap lines, whether it’s from the Federal Reserve or the Treasury, are to maintain order in the dollar funding markets and to prevent the sale of the U.S. assets in a disorderly way.” Read more CNBC politics coverageWarren presses Trump administration for answers on evacuation of Americans amid Iran warIran says it has seized two ships in Strait of HormuzLawmakers seek to override state data privacy laws with new billJudge dismisses Patel’s defamation lawsuit over claim he frequented ‘nightclubs’DOJ charges SPLC with fraud over secret funding of extremist groupsAnalysis: Warsh emerges from a difficult hearing with his Fed ‘regime-change’ plan intact”The swap line would both benefit the UAE and the U.S., and as I said, numerous other countries, including some of our Asian allies [who] have also requested them,” he said, without specifying which other countries.Gulf countries, including the UAE, have been hit hard by the war with Iran. Tehran has fired missiles at U.S. allies in the region, damaging economic infrastructure. Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has also choked oil revenues that are critical to Gulf nations. A currency swap could also be necessary to ensure the U.S. dollar, which is dominant in nearly all oil exchanges, remains in use.President Donald Trump said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday that he would like to assist the UAE if it’s poss …
