For a time, it seemed as if economic fallout from the conflict could be more limited than initially feared.Commonwealth Bank head of Australian economics Belinda Allen wrote in a 6 July research note that the impact of the war in Iran was "less severe than we originally expected".Several days later, the bank's head of geoeconomics, Joe Capurso, said he too had expected oil prices to stay elevated for longer, but "they've come back down to pre-war levels very fast".However, renewed fighting and statements made by political leaders in recent days have cast doubt on whether the ceasefire and easing of oil prices will hold.On Wednesday, the US military launched fresh strikes on Iran, saying it was responding to Iranian attacks on commercial ships in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz "I think that in Australia we're relatively resilient and robust, but we will start to see some costs and consequences from the fact that this war is not over."She said that, given the current impasse between the two sides, the cycle of back-and-forth strikes is likely to continue."I could see that continuing for at least a number of months, if not longer," she said.Independent economist Saul Eslake said Australia had so far avoided the worst economic consequences of the war partly because oil prices didn't climb as high as many had feared.He said US and Chinese oil reserves acted as a shock absorber, helping to limit the rise in global prices