Energy Secretary Gives Reality Check After US Military Takes Out Three Iranian Oil Tankers
Secretary of Energy Chris Wright outlined America's long-term goal for securing global trade passing through the Strait of Hormuz even as its conflict with Iran threatens such traffic.
Spencer Lombardo · Sep 6, 2026 · 3 min read
Secretary of Energy Chris Wright outlined America’s long-term goal for securing global trade passing through the Strait of Hormuz even as its conflict with Iran threatens such traffic.
Wright touted the sustained traffic transiting the Strait of Hormuz before telling Dana Bash during a “State of the Union” interview Sunday that securing the passageway “shouldn’t be just the United States’s responsibility” looking forward. His appearance on the CNN show comes the day after U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces reported taking out three Iranian oil tankers.
WATCH:
“The president says the Strait of Hormuz is under U.S. control. Just yesterday, the U.S. struck three Iranian tankers in retaliation for Iran firing missiles at U.S. warships. Meanwhile, The New York Times reports that Iran struck at least 23 merchant ships in the Strait in the last two months,” Bash said before asking Wright, “Does that sound to you like it’s a situation completely under control?”
“Our transits through the Strait are averaging over 9 million barrels a day now. And with the access pipelines that go around the Strait, we’re probably two-thirds or more of pre-conflict flows,” Wright responded. “So Iranians are still causing trouble, but the United States Navy is winning that battle.”
Bash then asked Wright if he is suggesting that the U.S. Navy is going to have to stay in the Strait “indefinitely” to maintain the current flow of oil and tankers.
“Oh, I think we’ll see a change in the Iranian regime, or certainly a change in their policy if they want to become a trading nation again and engage with the world,” Wright said. “But they have not lightly given up their nuclear weapons program.”
In parallel with military operations, the U.S. Department of the Treasury launched Operation Economic Outcast on Aug. 24 to sanction those who trade with Iran.
“Thank God for President Trump‘s courage to take this on,” Wright continued. “He did not want to kick the can down to the road to the next administration to deal with a nuclear-armed Iran. This is Iran without nuclear weapons; imagine Iran with nuclear weapons.”