Iran war cost rises to $47.1 billion, Pentagon told lawmakers
The cost of the war in Iran rose to $47.1 billion through Oct. 16, with bombs, missiles and other munitions accounting for more than 60% of the expenses.
WASHINGTON — The cost of the war in Iran rose to $47.1 billion through Oct. 16, with bombs, missiles and other munitions accounting for more than 60% of the expenses, the Pentagon told Congress last week.Even with President Donald Trump holding back on restarting major combat operations, at least for now, the Pentagon still incurred about $3.5 billion in additional costs in the roughly six weeks since the Pentagon shared estimates with lawmakers last month.
The numbers were the latest glimpse of an unclassified breakdown of costs incurred by each of the armed services, as well as for specific categories, like damaged or destroyed weaponry.
In the most recent cost estimates, the Air Force, for instance, has spent $7.6 billion to pay for operating dozens of fighter and bomber squadrons. The Navy has incurred $1.5 billion to deploy more than two dozen warships, including several aircraft carriers. And it has cost the Army $2.1 billion to sustain its forces in the region. Overall, more than 50,000 troops are assigned to the war mission, according to U.S. Central Command.
Congressional officials shared the cost estimates with The New York Times after they were provided to national security committees on Capitol Hill.
Since the war started Feb. 28, the military has burned through $29 billion in munitions, depleting global stockpiles of some critical weapons, like Patriot air-defense interceptors, and siphoning supplies from U.S. military commands in Asia and Europe.
The Pentagon has spent $6.1 billion to replace dozens of damaged or destroyed combat aircraft and other weaponry and equipment. It has spent $645 million to move and support several thousand Special Operations commandos in the region.
The information also revealed spending in other critical accounts. The military spent $24.5 million on “in-house medical support” for U.S. service members, according to one congressional official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the information provided to lawmakers. The Pentagon says that 18 service members have been killed in the war, and that more than 860 have been injured.
U.S. Transportation Command spent $92.2 million to move supplies and equipment, and U.S. Cyber Command spent $14 million on “cyber support operations,” the official said.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The department’s figures are almost certainly on the low side, congressional officials said Tuesday, noting that the Pentagon had acknowledged that its estimate did not include $1.5 billion for fuel and other costs that the Trump administration had asked for in a supplemental request to pay for the war.
The costs to repair or replace U.S. military facilities that were damaged or destroyed by Iranian attacks, such as the Navy’s base in Manama, Bahrain, also were not included in the information sent to Congress. The Pentagon has indicated it may close or not rebuild them. If the military or host countries rebuild, congressional officials say the bill could be tens of billions of dollars.
The unclassified Pentagon cost estimates provided to Congress offer an unusual window into the financial accounting of the war, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his top aides have largely kept under wraps.
Hegseth and the Trump administration are requesting as much as $70 billion in emergency military spending to cover the costs of the Iran war and pay for new weapons and personnel.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
