The U.S.–Iran war, which began on February 28, 2026, entered its 27th day, with significant global economic fallout. Oil prices have surged above $100 per barrel, while gold suffered its worst weekly decline since 1983, despite its traditional safe-haven role. As midterm elections approach, the political incentive to resolve the conflict has never been higher.
Against this backdrop, one question dominates: when is the war likely to end?
We asked our network of experts for a potential timeline. This is what they said.
Financial influencer Gav Blaxberg, who is the CEO of WOLF Financial, and Co-Founder of Rallies.ai – shares his view:
“This probably settles into a grinding standoff before it ends cleanly. If Israel, Iran, and Washington all decide the cost of a direct fight is climbing faster than anything they’d gain from one, you could see a de-escalation over weeks, maybe a couple months. That’s the optimistic read. The more likely version is – this drags on for many months through proxy hits, cyber ops, covert strikes, and shipping lane disruption rather than any kind of formal ceasefire.What actually determines the timeline comes down to a few things: does it stay between Israel and Iran, or do Hezbollah and Gulf assets get pulled in? How hard does the US work to keep a lid on it? How much pain are sanctions, oil price swings, and domestic pressure putting on Iran? And does either side feel like deterrence is back in place? Backchannel diplomacy that gives both sides a way to pause without looking weak speeds things up. Proxies opening new fronts slows everything down.”
Former WSJ Journalist and Forbes Contributor, Kenneth Rapoza, specializes in analyzing geopolitical risk. His take:
“The initial projection for this conflict mirrored a “Venezuela II” model: a swift U.S. intervention with a defined objective and a rapid exit. However, given Iran’s scale and the strategic goal of regime change, this was never going to …Full story available on Benzinga.com
