WASHINGTON — The war in Iran has cost the United States an estimated $47.1 billion through mid-October, according to a Pentagon estimate provided to Congress, as the conflict that President Donald Trump once predicted would last only a few weeks approaches its eighth month with no settled end in sight.
The figure, compiled by U.S. Central Command and dated October 16, is $3.5 billion higher than the $43.6 billion estimate the Pentagon gave lawmakers in early September, and more than 25 percent higher than the $37.5 billion that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cited in July, according to the Associated Press and Reuters, which obtained the document. The Pentagon has not publicly released the estimate and did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported.
Most of the money is not for day-to-day operations. About $29 billion of the total is the cost of replacing munitions used in the war, including air defense interceptors and bombs, according to the estimate. Replacing lost and damaged equipment, including aircraft, accounts for about $6.1 billion more, and running the operation itself — flights, logistics and support for deployed forces — accounts for about $11.9 billion.
The estimate is still not a full bill. It does not include the cost of repairing U.S. bases and facilities across the Middle East that were damaged by Iranian missile and drone strikes, because the military has not yet decided which facilities will be rebuilt, according to the reports. The Air Force, which has lost dozens of aircraft, is the costliest service at $7.6 billion, ahead of the Army at $2.1 billion and the Navy at $1.5 billion, USA Today reported.
The United States and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on February 28, in what Trump said would be a short campaign to cripple the Iranian state. Instead, the war has stretched on, an April ceasefire allowed Tehran to recover some buried weapons and restore parts of its air defenses, and more than 50,000 U.S. service members have deployed to the region, according to USA Today. The Pentagon has used roughly 65 percent of its Patriot missile interceptor stockpile, a shortage that commanders say affects readiness in other regions, including the Indo-Pacific.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated in September that operations had cost about $38 billion through August 1, and projected further costs of $2 billion to $3 billion a month depending on the intensity of fighting. It also cautioned that the Pentagon had not provided all the information it requested. The new Pentagon figure lands less than a week before the November 3 midterm elections, in which control of Congress is at stake and the war’s cost — and its effect on energy prices — has become a campaign issue. An AP-NORC poll cited by the Associated Press found most voters want Congress to prioritize ending the conflict.
What happens next is unsettled. The Trump administration is pressing Congress to approve a $95 billion package that would help fund the war, alongside a proposed $1.5 trillion military budget. Trump has also said renewed strikes on Iran remain an option after the midterms, and the United States is sending more military resources to the region, according to the Associated Press. For the full reporting on the estimate, see USA Today’s account of the Central Command figures.
