Energy Secretary: Short-Term Pain to End Iran's 47-Year Terror Threat

The Trump administration members were hitting the media hard on Sunday, spreading the word about the work the administration is doing. Another interesting appearance was by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who appeared on NBC's Meet the Press to talk about Operation Epic Fury and its implications on global energy prices. Key takeaway: Anyone with enough sense to pound sand knew that there would be a short-term adverse effect on oil prices, but in the long term, getting rid of the Iranian theocracy would be worth it, and then some.

First, the Secretary spoke about the successes in the military operation against Iran and the issue of the Strait of Hormuz.

.@SecretaryWright: "In the short term, we have to end Iran's ability to kill American soldiers, terrorize their neighbors, and continue to put global energy supplies at risk — as they've done for 47 years." pic.twitter.com/AkqCW9h0fe
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 15, 2026

The Secretary said:

Of course, the whole world will be united on the need to open (the Strait of) Hormuz, and clearly, we will have the support of other nations to achieve that objective. But in the short term, we have to end Iran's ability to kill American soldiers, to terrorize their neighbors, and continue to put global energy supplies at risk as they've done for 47 years.

That's the needful act; the mullahs, the murderous 7th-century barbarians who seized a modernizing, developing country in 1979 and converted it into a Dark Ages theocracy, have had their sway in the Middle East long enough. But Secretary Wright is the Energy Secretary, not the Secretary of War, and he had more to say about matters in his portfolio.

On the effect on energy prices:

.@SecretaryWright: "We knew there would be a short-term disruption in energy flows... On the other side, we'll be in a much better place. The greatest driver of terrorism in the world, the greatest threat to global energy supplies, will be defanged." pic.twitter.com/rqfGXrpKeP
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 15, 2026

The world is abundantly supplied with oil and energy. We knew there would be a short-term disruption in energy flows. And to hear Chuck Schumer say that we didn't, is just so... He knows how foolish that is. And to say stuff to try to undermine the United States in the midst of a world-changing conflict? It just boggles my mind. But this mission was carefully planned out, it's been superbly executed, and on the other side, we'll be in a much better place. The greatest driver or terrorism in the world, the greatest threat to global energy supplies, will be defanged. Yes, we have disruption to get there. But we're going to be in a much, much better place in the not-too-distant future.

This is an interesting point. Supplies aren't the problem; we are finding more recoverable resources all the time. The issue is extraction, refining, and transportation, and in that, Iran's disruptive influence has once more become an issue. With a new, free Iran, though, all those problems go away.

RedState Weekly Briefing: Iran on Edge, Biden’s Records in Play, and Courts Clash Over Trump

And finally, the Secretary had this to say in another appearance, this one on ABC's This Week With George Stephanopoulos on energy prices:

.@SecretaryWright: "Prices today are still far below what they were in the Biden Administration, where they were begging, bartering, and bribing Iran to behave better." pic.twitter.com/Cil0oXSqBT
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 15, 2026

We were very aware - very aware - that we would have short-term disruption, we would cause a little bit of increased prices on Americans. Prices today are still far below what they were in the Biden administration, where they were begging, bartering, and bribing Iran to behave better. We have $5 gasoline in the Midwest in the Biden administration.

This is, perhaps, belaboring the obvious. Anyone with an elementary understanding of markets and geopolitics knows that a military action on a major oil producer will act to drive up oil prices, at least in the short term. But this is a case where the estimated benefits in the long term outweigh the costs in the short term; not just in the energy marketplace, but in all the lives that may have been lost if the nation that was, by a wide margin, the world's foremost state sponsor of Islamic terrorism was allowed to stay in place.

Sooner or later, this was going to have to be done, and to quote President John F. Kennedy, "If not us, who? If not now, when?"

Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.

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