US government signals readiness to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities if needed

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright has made Washington’s position on Iran’s nuclear program about as clear as it gets: talk first, but keep the bombers fueled. Wright said the US prefers a diplomatic resolution to the standoff over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, while confirming that the military option to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities remains very much alive.

The statement lands against a backdrop of already-escalated tensions between the two countries, including US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025 that targeted enrichment facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. Those operations set off a fierce debate over just how much damage was actually inflicted, and how long it would take Iran to rebuild.

What Wright actually said

At the IAEA General Conference in September 2025, Wright laid out the US position in unusually direct terms. Iran’s nuclear weapons pathway, he said, must be “completely dismantled.” That means all uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing capabilities, not just a pause or a partial rollback.

By May 2026, Wright offered a more nuanced assessment. He acknowledged that the military objectives from the June 2025 strikes had been achieved within five weeks. But he drew a distinction between hitting targets from the air and actually ending a nuclear program. Dropping bombs on centrifuge halls is one thing. Ensuring a country with decades of nuclear expertise can’t reconstitute its capabilities is something else entirely.

The broader standoff

The June 2025 strikes represented a significant escalation in a conflict that has simmered for decades. Fordow, built deep inside a mountain near the city of Qom, was designed specifically to survive aerial bombardment. Natanz has been Iran’s primary enrichment site since the early 2000s. Isfahan houses a uranium conversion facility that turns raw yellowcake into the gas fed into centrifuges.

Some assessments suggest Iran’s nuclear timeline was set back significantly. Others indicate the destruction was more thorough than initially reported.

As of mid-2026, indirect talks between Washington and Tehran have continued, with Oman serving as an intermediary.

After the Stuxnet cyberattack damaged roughly a thousand centrifuges around 2010, Iran replaced them and expanded its program.

Energy markets and the Strait of Hormuz

Wright’s comments also addressed a pressure point that keeps energy traders up at night: the Strait of Hormuz. Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes through that narrow waterway between Iran and Oman every day. Iran has repeatedly threatened to close it during periods of heightened tension.

Wright underscored that the US is prepared to use military force to maintain the flow of oil through the strait if Iran attempts to disrupt it.

Wright has attempted to minimize concerns about damage to civilian energy infrastructure in Iran, framing the US approach as surgically targeted at nuclear facilities rather than the country’s broader energy sector.

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