A top aide to President Donald Trump said the Pentagon estimates the war with Iran, now in its third week, will last four to six weeks.
White House National Economic Council Chairman Kevin Hassett provided a timeline and warned that the final decision on when the war would end rests with Trump. He was one of several administration officials on Sunday asking Americans to be patient as energy prices soar, saying the goal of eliminating Iran’s threat to the Middle East was worthwhile. track Real-time updates on the US-Iraq war
As of Saturday, the Pentagon “believes it will take four to six weeks to complete this mission, and we’re ahead of schedule,” Hassett said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “We expect there will be a huge positive shock to the global economy once the pandemic is over.”
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the war could continue for weeks as oil and gasoline prices rise as the United States and Israel seek to destroy Iran’s military capabilities.
“I think this conflict will definitely be over in the next few weeks – probably sooner – and then we’ll see supply rebound and prices fall,” Wright told ABC’s “This Week.”
Brent crude settled above $103 a barrel on Friday as Iran maintained control of the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries a fifth of the world’s oil and a similar portion of liquefied natural gas.
Trump on Saturday called on other countries to send warships to keep the strait open and said he wanted China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain to get involved. A senior official of Japan’s ruling party said that sending Japanese naval ships to the Middle East to escort oil tankers would face “big obstacles”.
Wright said he has been in talks with the countries mentioned by Trump, but he did not elaborate. “Obviously, we’re going to have support from other countries to make this happen,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Wright said the Trump administration realizes that a war with Iran would cause “short-term chaos” and “a slight price increase for Americans.”
“So it’s short-term pain in order to get to a better place,” he told ABC. “But the most important thing now is to completely dismantle Iran’s ability to project military power in the region and around the world.”
With Iran’s leadership decimated by U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, Hassett believes domestic U.S. oil production means Iran has far less influence than during the oil crises of the 1970s.
“They think they’re going to hurt the U.S. economy and get President Trump to back down,” he said. “You couldn’t have said anything more stupid. We have lots and lots of oil.”
