When Will Iran War End? Trump Goes From '4 Weeks' To 'Largely Over' Amid Uncertainty

Last Updated:March 18, 2026, 01:52 IST

As the war entered its 18th day, Trump has offered mixed messages about the conclusion of the military campaign amid disruptions in energy supplies and international travel.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday again offered a vague statement on the ongoing war in Iran, saying that the United States will be “leaving pretty much in the near future", without providing any more details.

“We are not ready to leave yet, but we will be leaving in the near future. We’re leaving pretty much in the very near future. Right now, they’ve been decimated from every standpoint! And we’ve had great support from countries in the Middle East, but essentially no support from NATO," he told reporters in the White House.

As the war entered its 18th day, with continued disruptions in energy markets, crude oil prices and international travel, there is still no clear end in sight as the US and Israel continued strikes on Iran, while Tehran continued its attacks on countries in the Gulf.

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Trump’s Contradictory Rhetoric

As the war roils oil markets, Trump’s rhetoric has increasingly contradicted his own administration, and even himself sometimes. At the beginning of the war, Trump gave a four-week timeline for the war, but said US forces were progressing much quicker than expected.

“It’s always been a four-week process, we figured it will be four weeks or so, it’s always been about a four-week process, so — as strong as it is, it’s a big country — it’ll take four weeks — or less," he told Daily Mail on March 1, a day after the US-Israeli strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top officials.

Later, Trump said the war would end “soon", but US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a briefing that this was “just the beginning".

On March 9, Trump said Iran had no navy or an air force and its missile capabilities were badly damaged. “I think the war is very complete, pretty much," he told CBS News, adding that the US military operation was “way ahead of schedule.

As oil prices rose and US stocks fell, Trump reassured people that the Iran war was a “short-term excursion" and would end very soon. However, Iran made it very clear that it was prepared to drag out the war, and Israel also revealed that it had plans for a long and ‘dangerous’ conflict.

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On Monday, Trump said at the White House that the stock market turbulence was a “small price to pay", emphasising that stopping Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon was far more important.

On Tuesday, the US president said the operation in Iran was “largely over" and it “won’t be too long" before the Strait of Hormuz is secured. “Iran is just a military operation to me. Iran is, uh, something that was essentially largely over in two or three days because the Navy was wiped out almost immediately," he told reporters.

What Is Trump’s Goal?

As uncertainty looms over the impact of the war on global economy, Trump’s contradictory statements are seen as a bid to calm markets, while also displaying a show of force against Iran. The administration has repeatedly said Iran’s nuclear ambitions necessitated the campaign.

While Trump has encouraged Iranians to rise up and overthrow the regime that was oppressing them, several US intelligence assessments have found that a regime change in Iran was unlikely despite two weeks of relentless airstrikes. Trump has also expressed a desire to pick Iran’s new leader after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba was chosen as successor.

Analysts say the US is now looking to stabilise the Gulf region by neutralising the threat of Iran’s military. The US-Israeli campaign has virtually shut the Strait of Hormuz, which supplies 20% of the world’s oil and LNG, and put the security of several countries at risk of Iranian retaliatory attacks.

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