Wright: Iran Nuclear Deal May Never Happen — SkimNews
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- Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on ABC's "This Week" that a nuclear deal with Iran may never happen, adding: "It may be simply destroying their capabilities to do it," signaling the administration may pursue the goal without a negotiated agreement.
- Wright described the effort as a "47-year-long" project and said the U.S. is "degrading their capacity to develop nuclear weapons and ultimately to deliver them," while on CBS' "Face the Nation" he said the U.S. is "strangling their economy" to force regime change.
- Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf declared Iran's "proportionate responses" to U.S. attacks are over, warning of "faster, heavier, and more painful" retaliation, while separately acknowledging severe inflation, unemployment, and exchange-rate pressure domestically.
- CENTCOM struck three Iranian crude oil carriers—permanently disabling one off Kharg Island and one near Jask and attacking another in the Gulf of Oman—retaliating for IRGC ballistic missiles launched at two U.S. Navy warships; no American personnel were harmed, according to the command.
- CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper warned: "If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost — taking out three of yours," underscoring the tit-for-tat escalation following the tanker strikes.
- Iran's Supreme National Security Council plans to announce a new restriction zone outside the Strait of Hormuz, which the conflict has effectively shut; Iran had previously exported 90% of its crude via Kharg Island before the war.
- Iran's economy contracted 2.7% in the year ending March per the World Bank, inflation surged to 62.2% in February with food-price inflation hitting 99%, and one Iranian official estimated the war has caused the loss of one million jobs.
Why it matters: Wright's framing moves the stated U.S. objective from a negotiated deal to an open-ended campaign to "destroy their capabilities," with no clear endpoint seven months in. Iran's response is already two-sided: warnings of escalated military retaliation alongside visible economic collapse—2.7% GDP contraction, 62.2% inflation, and a U.S. blockade throttling crude exports through the Strait of Hormuz. For oil markets and regional shipping, the absence of a diplomatic offramp extends the disruption.
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