Lagarde questions Bezent's assessment of the economic impact of the Middle East conflict.

According to informed sources, European Central Bank President Lagarde openly questioned U.S. Treasury Secretary Besent's brief optimistic assessment of the economic impact of the Iran war at a G7 high-level meeting. The sources said that Besent downplayed the impact of the Middle East conflict and believed that disturbances, including the Strait of Hormuz, would be temporary. However, Lagarde countered this, telling Besent and the attending central bank presidents, finance and energy ministers that due to the large amount of infrastructure damage, the related impact will last a longer time. This confrontation reflects the increasing divergence between the United States and Europe. This is not the first time Lagarde has clashed with U.S. officials this year. In January, at the World Economic Forum, she left halfway through the event because she believed U.S. Commerce Secretary Lutnick's anti-European comments were "too extreme."