Gate News reports that on March 16, U.S. government officials stated locally that they expect the Iran conflict to end within weeks or sooner. U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry said, “I believe this conflict will definitely end in the coming weeks, possibly sooner… After that, we will see a rebound in supply, and prices will fall.” White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese also expressed a similar view: “We expect that once this is over, the global economy will experience a significant positive impact.” Perry acknowledged the economic effects of the conflict but said that enduring “short-term pain” is better than facing “an Iran with nuclear weapons.” Meanwhile, economists are concerned that disruptions to Middle Eastern oil supplies could trigger a recession. At the time of these statements, the Israeli military said its operations in Iran would continue for at least three more weeks.