US: Nuclear deal with Iran may not materialise
Istanbul (ANTARA) - US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Sunday that a nuclear deal with Iran may not materialise and the United States may have to rely on destroying Tehran’s nuclear capability.
“There may be no nuclear deal,” Wright told ABC News. “The way may simply be to destroy their capability to do so. A deal may await the next government in Iran. We really don’t know.”
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that Iran’s leadership has fundamentally changed since the US-Israeli attacks began in late February, although Iran’s system of government remains in place under a new supreme leader.
When asked whether continued bombing would be a strategy to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, Wright replied that it appeared necessary.
“You have to destroy their capability to do so,” he said. “They built a large missile infrastructure to produce missiles, which you now see them firing, but they no longer have the capability to make more missiles.”
Wright also discussed the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic chokepoint for global energy shipments. He said the seven-day average flow of oil through the strait has now reached more than 9 million barrels per day.
According to Wright, that figure is the highest seven-day average ever recorded. He had previously made a similar statement in early August.
Taking into account oil flows through pipeline networks in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the total flow of oil leaving the region reaches approximately 13 to 14 million barrels per day, Wright said.
Iran and the US signed a memorandum of understanding in June, mediated by Pakistan and Qatar. The memorandum set out steps towards ending hostilities, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and resolving economic restrictions.
Since then, both sides have accused each other of failing to implement the commitments contained in the memorandum.
The Strait of Hormuz remains a flashpoint, as the US and Iran have made contradictory claims about the waterway’s openness, who controls it, and its level of safety for commercial shipping.
US officials say the international shipping lanes in the strait have been cleared of Iranian mines and that dozens of vessels pass through daily. Tehran insists the strait remains under Iranian control and is not yet open or safe from the threat of mines.