U.S. energy chief signals Iran war may last several more weeks

Energy Secretary Chris Wright signaled the war with Iran may last several more weeks with oil and gasoline prices elevated as the US and Israel seek to destroy Iranian military capabilities.

In network television interviews Sunday, Wright defended the Trump administration’s argument that Americans are facing short-term pain at the pump in a midterm election year for the larger goal of eliminating Iran as a threat to the Middle East.

“I think that this conflict will certainly come to the end in the next few weeks — could be sooner that that — and we’ll see a rebound in supplies and a pushing down of prices after that,” Wright said Sunday on ABC’s This Week.

Oil closed at more than $103 per barrel on Friday as Iran retains a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, normally a conduit for a fifth of the world’s oil and a similar portion of liquefied natural gas. 

President Donald Trump on Saturday called on other countries to send warships to keep the strait open, saying he hopes China, France, Japan, South Korea and the UK would take part. A senior official in Japan’s governing party said sending Japanese navy vessels to the Middle East to escort tankers would face “high hurdles.”

Wright said he has been in talks with the countries Trump mentioned, though he didn’t elaborate. “Clearly we will have this support of other nations to achieve that objective,” he said on NBC’s Meet the Press.

Wright said the Trump administration was aware that going to war against Iran would cause “short-term disruption” and “a little bit of increased prices on Americans.”

“So this is short-term pain to get through to a much better place,” he told ABC. “But first and foremost right now is to finish to destroy Iran’s ability to project military force in the region and around the world.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com