Pentagon Says Iran War Has Cost US Taxpayers at Least $47.1 Billion

The Pentagon has told lawmakers in the United States that the war on Iran has cost American taxpayers at least $47.1 billion so far.

The estimate, disclosed last week, comes just days before the November 3 midterm elections, which will determine if President Donald Trump’s Republican Party will maintain control of Congress for the next two years.

The Pentagon told Congress that the cost of the US-Israel war on Iran as of October 16 had risen to at least $47.1 billion. Congressional officials shared the Pentagon’s cost estimate breakdown with The New York Times.

According to the Times and other US media reports, the estimate covers the operational costs of the war and includes a projected $29 billion needed to replace expended munitions such as bombs, bullets and other military hardware deployed in the war so far.

Since the war started on February 28, the US Air Force has spent $7.6 billion on fighter and bomber units; the US Navy has spent $1.5 billion on two dozen warships and aircraft carriers; and the US Army has spent $2.1 billion to sustain its troops in the Middle East.

According to US Central Command, more than 50,000 American troops are stationed in the Middle East, across large permanent bases and smaller forward sites in the region.

Officials told the Times the Pentagon has spent $6.1 billion to replace damaged aircraft and munitions, $645 million on transport and support for commandos in the region, and $24.5 million on in-house medical support for US service members.

A congressional official added that US Transportation Command spent $92.2 million to move equipment, and US Cyber Command spent $14 million on cyber support operations.

The estimate does not include how much Washington will need to spend to repair its damaged military bases across the Middle East, and does not take into account the cost of fuel needed to power the ships and aircraft used in the war.

The Pentagon has publicly acknowledged 18 US service member fatalities, while The Washington Post has cited six unnamed US officials stating the true death toll is at least 22. According to the Pentagon’s Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) database, 865 military personnel have been wounded in the war with Iran.

According to an October 19 report by USA Today, five Democratic senators had written to Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command, demanding the Pentagon reveal the true cost of the war. Their letter called the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to hide the true cost of the war “outrageous and unacceptable.”

In a post on X following the latest Pentagon report, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote: “For eight months, American families have been buried by the heavy cost of Trump’s disastrous war in Iran.” He added: “Trump and his ego led us into this war with no plan, no authority, and no exit strategy.”

Estimates of the cost have risen steadily. The latest Pentagon figure is higher than the $38 billion the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) forecast in September, and higher than the $37.5 billion given by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in July, which was itself about $8 billion above the administration’s May figure of $29 billion; in late April, Pentagon comptroller Jules Hurst had put the cost at $25 billion.

With the war entering its ninth month and no peace deal in sight, the CBO said last month the war could cost approximately $2 billion to $3 billion per month for as long as it continues.

The war has also pushed up fuel costs. On Wednesday, the average price of a gallon of diesel in the US hit $6.35, compared with $3.75 last year, according to the American Automobile Association. The national debt has also surpassed a record $40 trillion, two years before expected.

Trump’s approval rating has slumped to 33 percent, the lowest at any time during his two terms. With five days to go before the midterms, Democrats lead Republicans by 51.4 percent to 43.2 percent, a gap of 8.2 percentage points, according to RealClearPolling’s national polling average.

Chris Featherstone, a political scientist at the University of York in the United Kingdom, told Al Jazeera the issue hits two key pillars of Trump’s political rhetoric: his 2024 campaign promise to initiate “no new wars,” and his emphasis on fixing the American economy.