It has cost $25 billion so far, a senior Pentagon official said Wednesday, giving for the first time an official estimate of the cost of the conflict.
With just six months to go until the midterm elections, in which his Republicans may struggle to retain their majority in the House of Representatives, Democrats are gaining ground in the polls, attempting to link the unpopular war with precision.
Jules Hurst, who acts as the comptroller of spending, told the House Armed Services Committee that most of the money is for munitions.
However, he did not specify what exactly that estimate includes, or whether future costs to restore damaged military infrastructure in the Middle East are factored in.
Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the committee, commented: “I’m glad there’s finally an answer. We’ve been asking for a long time and no one was giving us a number.”
The $25 billion figure roughly corresponds to NASA’s annual budget.
It remains unclear, however, how the Pentagon arrived at that estimate, as a source had told Reuters that the first six days of the war cost at least $11.3 billion.
“What would you pay?”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended the cost, stressing that it was justified by the US goal of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
“?” he wondered.
At the same time, he defended the US strategy as a whole, rejecting the Democrats’ criticism and accusing them of “irresponsibility” and “defeatism”.
The United States launched attacks against Iran on February 28, and today the two sides are observing a fragile truce. The Pentagon has significantly increased its military presence in the Middle East, even maintaining three aircraft carriers in the region.
So far, 13 American soldiers have lost their lives and hundreds have been injured.
Accuracy remains a key issue for American voters, with rising inflation a concern for Republicans ahead of the November elections that will decide control of the House and possibly the Senate.
Disruptions to oil and natural gas supplies due to the war have led to higher prices of gasoline and agricultural products, further burdening consumers.
The average price of gasoline in the U.S. hit a nearly four-year high, according to data from the American Automobile Association.
Trump’s popularity has also declined since the start of the war. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, only 34% of Americans approve of conflict with Iran.
