Toggle Daily
Energy secretary says a nuclear agreement
September 6, 2026
A nuclear agreement with Iran may not come together, the energy secretary, Chris Wright, told interviewers Sunday, a day after US forces struck three Iranian oil tankers.
Chris Wright is the US energy secretary. He speaks for the administration on oil supply and the Strait of Hormuz, the shipping lane at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, at a time when Washington and Tehran are exchanging strikes.
Key facts
- Speaking on Sunday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said a nuclear deal with Iran might never be reached, months into the war with that country, and he described such an agreement as something President Donald Trump has pursued for a long time.
- Wright pointed to the futures market, where bulk gasoline purchased now for delivery in November, two months ahead, runs roughly 35 cents below the current price.
- American forces hit three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday, following Iranian attacks on a pair of U.S. Navy warships.
- In remarks last week, President Trump said he "could not care less" whether Iran reached a deal.
- Wright described the United States as holding considerable leverage where Venezuela is concerned.
ABC News reports that Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday that a nuclear agreement with Iran, sought by President Donald Trump for months, may not come to fruition after months of war. Wright said the United States is degrading Iran's capacity to build nuclear weapons and to deliver them. He also said a US blockade of Iranian ports would change either the Iranian government or the policies it follows. Bloomberg and Politico carry the same remarks.
The surrounding facts line up across the coverage. ABC News reports that US forces struck three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday after Iran targeted two US Navy warships, and Bloomberg and Politico carry that sequence as well. All three carry Trump's line last week that he "could not care less" whether Iran struck a deal, alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's stated goal of moving to "economically asphyxiate" Iran into negotiating. Bloomberg ties Wright's comments to the naval mission in the Strait of Hormuz, saying the Navy will keep the waterway open until Iran gives way. Politico frames the same interview around Wright's description of the standoff as a conflict, and The Hill carries the Sunday interview round and Wright's doubt about a nuclear agreement.
The emphasis shifts by outlet, with one leading on the shipping lane and another on the language of conflict, but no account states a different fact, figure or attribution. What Wright said, the strikes on the tankers, and Trump's and Bessent's positions are reported. What a blockade produces, and whether talks resume at all, sits outside the record.
Describing the effect of the campaign, he said, "We are degrading their capacity to develop nuclear weapons and ultimately to deliver them, if they develop them."
Still developing
The accounts give the same version of what Chris Wright said Sunday about a nuclear agreement with Iran, and no different figure or framing appears in the record by the time of draft.
How settled the reporting is
Sources
- ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos — Energy Secretary says 'there may not be' a nuclear agreement with Iran
- Politico — Chris Wright says US is in a ‘conflict’ with Iran
- The Hill — Live updates: Energy Secretary Chris Wright set for Sunday show interviews as US, Iran trade strikes