UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had an angry exchange in Washington last month over the war in Iran, sources have confirmed. The argument took place during the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund, marking a further deterioration in US-UK relations.
The row centred on Reeves’s public criticisms of the Iran conflict, which she made before the meetings. In an interview on 14 April, Reeves told the Mirror she felt “very frustrated and angry that the US went into this war without a clear exit plan”, calling the war a “folly”. She later told CNBC that the goals of the war had “never been clear” and that she was “not convinced this conflict has made the world a safer place”.
According to sources briefed on the meeting, Bessent upbraided Reeves over her comments, invoking the threat of an Iranian nuclear attack on Britain. He reportedly made remarks similar to those he made to the BBC a day earlier, when he responded to concerns about the war’s economic fallout by saying: “I wonder what the hit to global GDP would be if a nuclear weapon hit London.” Reeves retorted that she was not his employee and did not like his tone.
A UK official said: “Reeves was as direct in private with Bessent about her views on the Iran [war] as she was in public.” Downing Street, however, insisted that the two have a good relationship and have had constructive conversations since the visit. The US Treasury’s readout of the meeting stated that Bessent underscored the commitment to “Economic Fury” against those supporting Iran’s terrorist activities.
The war in Iran has created arguably the biggest divide between the US and UK since the Suez crisis of 1956. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has taken an increasingly outspoken position against President Donald Trump’s foreign policy, despite early efforts to maintain good relations. Trump has threatened to rip up a trade deal, impose tariffs, and recognise Argentina’s claims to the Falkland Islands, though he struck a more conciliatory note during the recent visit of King Charles and Queen Camilla.
