Energy Secretary
Chris Wright said Sunday that the
flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz is returning “back towards normal,” a day after Iranian officials
signaled they would be closing the vital waterway due to Israeli strikes in Lebanon.
The Trump administration official said 67 ships went through the strait on Saturday, a slight increase from 55 on Friday as the U.S. military escorts vessels through a southern route in the channel.
“I think it’s that returning flows back towards normal without any cooperation at all from Iran, that’s the leverage
President Trump used to get the Iranians to come to the table and realize they’re going to lose all the cards in their hand,” Wright said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week” with Jonathan Karl. “Maybe they can make a deal that brings some benefit to Iran. Maybe they can’t.”
A day earlier,
Vice President Vance told Fox News there was no evidence that Iran had blocked off the Strait of Hormuz, touting what he described as a
record-breaking amount of oil moving through the critical shipping corridor over the previous 24 hours.
Vance is in Switzerland on Sunday
for talks with Iranian officials — mediated by Pakistan and Qatar — over Iran’s nuclear program, days after the signed
U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding started a 60-day clock for the countries to reach a final agreement.
The latest news comes as gas prices remain elevated in the U.S. compared to levels from before the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran was sparked in late February. The national average of regular gasoline stood at about $3.93 per gallon as of Sunday morning, which is lower than it was a month ago but about 70 cents higher than the average last June,
according to AAA.
Asked by Karl when he expects gas prices to return to prewar levels, Wright declined to give a prediction.
“But they will continue to head down,” he added. “Flows of oil and natural gas through the strait have already returned to normal, and they will continue that way, whatever happens with the negotiations with the Iranians.”
Wright also said Trump “knew he was going to drive up energy prices in the short run” with his actions against Iran, but that the president “had the courage to take the action anyway.”
Trump, meanwhile,
issued a stark threat to the Middle Eastern country earlier Sunday, referencing the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah which has risked the 60-day U.S.-Iran ceasefire.
“Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!”
