Shafaq News- Washington

A nuclear agreement with Iran may not materialize, leaving the United States to focus on destroying Tehran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Sunday.

"An agreement may await a next administration in Iran. We simply don't know that," Wright told ABC News.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that Iran's leadership has fundamentally changed since US-Israeli strikes began in late February. Last month, he suggested that a deal with Tehran might not materialize, despite a nuclear agreement with Iran initially ranking among his administration's main war objectives.

Asked how Washington would prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon without an agreement, Wright said the US would have to continue destroying Iran’s capabilities to do so. "They built a massive missile infrastructure to manufacture missiles, which you see them firing today, but they don't have the capability to build more missiles," he said.

Wright also addressed oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global energy shipments. He said that the seven-day average of oil passing through the maritime gateway currently stands at more than 9 million barrels per day (bpd), the highest average on record.

"With pipelines through Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the total flow out of the region is between 13 million and 14 million bpd."

Hostilities between the United States and Iran ramped up again on Saturday, with Washington striking three Iranian oil tankers after Iran targeted two US Navy warships. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard later claimed retaliatory attacks on three US-affiliated vessels and three oil tankers.