Trump official says ‘there may not be a nuclear agreement’ with Iran

As the United States and Iran resume trading attacks, a top US official has publicly downplayed the chances of one of President Donald Trump's initial key objectives in the US and Israel's war on Iran: getting a signed nuclear agreement.

Key points

• When pressed by the show's co-host, Martha Raddatz, on whether the US would resort to continued bombing instead of diplomacy, Wright defended US actions in Iran, afterwards.
• "It may be simply destroying their capabilities to do it, " Wright remarked on 'ABC This Week' concerning Iran's ambitions to obtain a nuclear weapon.
• Despite recent exchanges of intense fire between US and Iranian forces, the White House has attempted to minimise the conflict in public remarks.
• On Friday, Trump sought to downplay the war in Iran, calling it "small potatoes".
• At a White House briefing this week, Vance remarked of the conflict that he "wouldn't call it a war" and there was "no active shooting right now".

During an interview on Sunday with US channel ABC News, the US Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, remarked "there may not" be a nuclear agreement, signalling that the US may pivot instead to launching strikes against any Iranian efforts to build nuclear infrastructure.

Notably, the US has previously targeted facilities it remarked had been employed to backing Iran's nuclear programme. Iran has always maintained that it is developing a nuclear power programme only and does not have intends to build a nuclear weapon.

"They don't have the capability to build more missiles, " Wright remarked. "We're degrading their capacity to develop nuclear weapons and, ultimately, to deliver them if they develop them."

Nevertheless, the former oil executive whose agency oversees the US stockpile of nuclear weapons stated that a accord with Iran could be feasible under new leadership.

"An agreement may await the next administration in Iran, " he remarked. "We simply don't know that."

Meanwhile, the Trump administration official's comments could signal that US hopes for a nuclear accord are dimming and slipping further out of reach.

After the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran collapsed in July, attacks paused, then resumed, coupled with Iranian closures of the Strait of Hormuz and US naval blockade.

On Friday, Trump sought to downplay the war in Iran, calling it "small potatoes". While at a White House news briefing on Thursday, Vice President JD Vance appeared to suggest that the conflict had cooled and to shrug off an alleged US attack on a wedding in southern Iran, saying "sometimes things happen".

Without offering specifics, Wright on Sunday remarked the US would "get the job done" in Iran and other nations would be offering their assist to bring an end to the war.

"We will work in cooperation with our allies in the region, " Wright remarked. "I think you'll see countries from around the world joining this effort as well." Al Jazeera has reached out to the White House for comment.

In short, trump official says 'there may not be a nuclear agreement' with Iran is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.