Wright says Iran war worth it to ‘reset’ Middle East

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday the Iran war is necessary , arguing the U.S. needs to “reset” the Middle East.

During an interview on ABC News’s “This Week,” Wright reiterated the longstanding talking point from administration officials that the goal of the conflict is to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

“A nuclear-armed Iran is an existential threat, not just for the region, but for the world economy,” he told host Martha Raddatz.

“I’m very proud of President Trump, not just kicking this can down the road like previous presidents have done, but saying we’ve got to end that capability,” Wright added. “We’ve got to reset the Middle East so it can have generations of peace and prosperity.”

The war, in its seventh month, has resulted in the deaths of 18 American service members and thousands of Iranian civilians. The U.S. and Iran continued to exchange strikes this weekend, and there is no sign of a deal to permanently end hostilities.

The conflict has also come with economic costs for the U.S., stemming from the Iranian military’s restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The national average price of a gallon of regular gas is roughly $4.14 on Sunday, more than six months after it was below $3 just days before the U.S. and Israel launched the war, according to AAA.

Labor Day weekend travelers, in fact, are seeing the highest prices at the pump on record, AAA reported on Thursday .

Wright said Sunday that daily transit in the Strait of Hormuz is at roughly “two-thirds” of where it stood before the war, as the U.S. military has sought to escort tankers through the waterway.

The Energy secretary noted his estimate of transit in the strait includes oil passing through pipelines .

“They’re clinging on to power as the United States continues to escalate the volume of oil that transits through the Strait of Hormuz,” Wright said, referring to the Islamic Republic regime.