Wright says the U.S. is "still in a conflict, for sure" when asked whether it is still at war
Chris WrightU.S. Secretary of Energy, interviewed on ABC's This Week
Asked whether the U.S. is still at war with Iran, Wright said "We're still in a conflict, for sure" and "we're in a conflict zone". He answered with the words conflict and conflict zone rather than war.
Responding to
Vice President JD Vance said he would not call the U.S. fight with Iran a war, saying there is no active shooting right now and that major combat operations lasted about six weeks.
“We're still in a conflict, for sure. The United States Navy is there to reduce Iran's ability to cause trouble, but they're doing everything they can to cause trouble. And the United States' capabilities to deflect that have continued to grow. But we're in a conflict zone. ... So, this is a conflict. Make no mistake about that.”
Interview
Where this statement fits
Is the U.S. fight with Iran a war, as Vice President Vance says it is not?
At a White House press briefing on September 3, 2026, Vice President JD Vance was asked whether the fighting with Iran would be over before the midterm elections. He said, "I wouldn't call it a war. Right now, there is no active shooting," and said major combat operations lasted about six weeks. The next day President Trump said he calls it "a military conflict because it's small potatoes for us." Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Rep. Ro Khanna, Rep. Thomas Massie and Democrat Amy McGrath, a former Marine pilot, criticized the description or Trump's defense of it. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the U.S. is "still in a conflict, for sure," and, as quoted by Al Arabiya English, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson called the fighting "an overt military aggression." The dispute is whether describing the fighting as not a war is an accurate and acceptable characterization.
Source and context
Interview
About this source
ABC's rush transcript of This Week for September 6, 2026. In the interview, host Martha Raddatz asks Energy Secretary Chris Wright whether the U.S. is still at war with Iran. ABC marks the transcript as possibly not in its final form.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Host Martha Raddatz said the U.S. and Iran had resumed fighting and that it seemed the U.S. was still at war, then asked, "But would you say we're still at war?"
After the quotation
Wright went on to say that a nuclear-armed Iran would be an existential threat to the region and the world economy.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Wright does not adopt the word war, which is consistent with Vance's wording, but he says the U.S. is in a conflict and a conflict zone with Iran causing trouble, which does not endorse Vance's picture of no active shooting. Because the statement combines those two positions, mixed or conditional fits better than defends or excuses.
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The Dispute Index. "Wright says the U.S. is "still in a conflict, for sure" when asked whether it is still at war". First published: 2026-09-26. Last updated: 2026-09-26. https://disputeindex.com/events/2701-asked-whether-the-u-s-is-still-at