Link: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5784951-wright-predicts-iran-war-end/
Archive: https://archive.is/2JiVB
THE HILL -
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday that he thinks the U.S. conflict in Iran could end in the next few weeks — or even sooner.
“I think that this conflict will certainly come to an end in the next few weeks,” Wright told ABC News’s Martha Raddatz on “This Week.” “Could be sooner than that, but the conflict will come to the end in the next few weeks.”
The war in Iran began late last month when the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes against the Middle Eastern country, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and setting off a larger regional conflict.
President Trump said Friday the war will come to an end when he “feels it in [his] bones.” He has previously floated various possible timelines for when the military operation could wrap up.
A few days after the U.S. and Israel’s initial attack, Trump said he expected the offensive to take up to “four to five weeks” or longer.
Late last week, Gulf countries, including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, called for an end to the war. Those three countries, alongside Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, have all come under varying degrees of attack from Iran since the onset of the war.
Back in the U.S., high fuel prices have rattled Americans and markets, as some economists warn that an extended conflict could push the U.S. into a recession.
Wright, responding to Raddatz’s questions about rising gas prices, said Sunday he expects costs to decline when the conflict concludes.
“We’ll see a rebound in supplies and a pushing down of prices after that,” he said, noting that the administration was “very aware” that there would be a “short-term disruption” amid the conflict.
Wright said last week that he didn’t expect price spikes to last for months.
“Look, you never know exactly the time frame of this, but, in the worst case, this is a weeks, this is not a months thing,” he told CNN.
"And I know for a fact this is true, because if the war isn't over in 3 weeks, I will seize power and surrender unconditionally to Iran." he went on to say.