Energy secretary on Iran, nuclear energy and Project Freedom

WASHINGTON (CBS, KYMA) - Energy Secretary Chris Wright spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the ongoing war with Iran.

According to Brennan, President Donald Trump said he expects a response from Iran, prompting her to ask Secretary Wright if one has been received and what the U.S. is doing about it, to which Wright said:

"Not that I'm aware of, but I suspect we will get a response very soon. Things are tough for the leaders of Iran right now, and I think they get growing motivation to make a deal, but we know where this is going to end. We don't know the route to there, but at the end of the day, we'll have free flow of traffic through the Straits of Hormuz, and we will have an end to the Iranian nuclear program. The end point we know. The route, we don't."

Brennan brought an interview her colleague, Major Garrett, conducted with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the war is not over, adding that there is still work to be done.

However, President Trump told Congress that hostilities have been terminated, leading her to ask Wright if, in the U.S.' point-of-view, the war itself is over, and the secretary said:

"The military objectives that we set out to achieve, and we guided the world to four to six weeks, and it took about five weeks to achieve. Those are achieved. The ending of the Iranian nuclear program is a different matter, and that's what still needs to be achieved, and again, most likely achieved by negotiation, but doesn't necessarily have to be achieved by negotiation."

During the interview, Brennan and Wright talked about Trump, according to Prime Minister Netanyahu, wanting to go in and get the enriched uranium in Iran, but said it's best if they had an agreement first to do that.

This led Brennan to ask what the plan looks like, and Wright said:

"We don't know. That's what's still yet to be determined. It could be any of those, but yeah, it definitely would involve people from the Department of Energy. The nuclear expertise in the United States is within my department. They are ready, they've been monitoring what's happening in Iran, and they've been involved in the dialogues about, how would we handle this material? Where would we take it? What would we do with it? But that is a critical thing. Iran has nearly 1,000 pounds of uranium enriched to 60%, so close to weapons grade, way higher than any potential commercial use of it. They've lied all along that it's for a civil nuclear program. It's for their own energy. It was never about that. It was always about weapons, and the world just can't live with a nuclear armed Iran."

Later in the interview, Brennan and Wright talked about Project Freedom, which was announced last Sunday by the president as a way for U.S. ships to guide other vessels out of the waterway at the Strait of Hormuz.

However, less 48 hours later, Trump said Project Freedom was suspended, but when the president was asked if Project Freedom would resume, he said, "I don't think so. We may go back to Project Freedom, but it would be Project Freedom Plus others."

When asked if the U.S. military is going to begin clearing the Strait of Hormuz, the secretary said:

"We are actively clearing the strait today, but we did stop Project Freedom at Iran's request...It's their only card if we militarily reopen the strait, which is a challenge. It's not a one or two day endeavor that's an effort to do that. They said, 'Wait a minute, wait a minute, let's make a deal. Let's make a deal, we'll agree to reopen it. Let's engage in the talks about the nuclear program, and let's make a deal. So this pausing of that military effort to open the straits is to get a negotiated settlement with Iran. And if we can get a successful negotiated settlement with Iran, that's great. That's a good end to the conflict, if we can."

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Wright, click here.