AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): As the U.S. and Zionist regime war against Iran approaches the six-month mark, its financial bill has far exceeded the costs that the Pentagon has so far paid. This cost is not limited to munitions and military operations, but also includes base repairs, replenishment of weapons stockpiles, increased fuel prices, and the rising burden of public debt. In addition to the costs that American consumers bear directly and indirectly.
According to a report by Al Jazeera Net, in an article published by The Washington Post, Amy Westfall wrote that the Pentagon estimates the cost of the war against Iran will reach about $37.5 billion by next September. A figure that does not include damages to U.S. military bases in the region.
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has also requested from Congress an additional appropriation of about $67 billion to cover the costs of the war against Iran and to replenish part of the weapons stockpiles consumed during operations.
Independent Estimates
But independent estimates place the cost of the war against Iran at higher levels. Mark Cancian of the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated the cost of this war up to last June at between $35.2 and $42.5 billion. This figure includes costs of force deployment, munitions, increased operational intensity, equipment damage, base damages, and increased fuel prices.
Munitions constitute the largest part of this bill. Cancian estimates the cost of munitions at more than $26.1 billion. The U.S. war against Iran has also revealed a large gap in the cost of weapons used by the two sides, with the United States spending huge amounts on advanced interceptor missiles to counter Iran's much cheaper weapons.
According to this report, the United States has fired more than 200 THAAD interceptor missiles to defend the Zionist regime, a figure equivalent to about half of the Pentagon's stockpile. The cost of each missile is estimated at about $15 million.
Tomahawk missiles, which the United States used extensively at the beginning of the war against Iran, cost more than $2 million per missile, and the cost of replacing them may reach twice that amount. U.S. forces fired more than 850 Tomahawk missiles in just the first four weeks of the war against Iran. This is while the United States produces only a few hundred of these missiles annually.
Damage to U.S. Bases in the Region
Other estimates show that damage to U.S. bases in the Middle East will also add billions of dollars to the war bill against Iran. The American Enterprise Institute estimates the cost of rebuilding and repairing damaged bases at about $5 billion. A U.S. congressional report also reported the destruction or damage of at least 42 U.S. military aircraft in the war against Iran.
The report, citing Elaine McCusker, a former Pentagon official and researcher at the American Enterprise Institute, estimated the cost of the U.S. war against Iran up to June at about $38.6 billion, equivalent to about $115 for every American.
However, according to experts, more dangerous than current costs is what is called long-term costs. These costs include rebuilding facilities, replenishing weapons stockpiles, aiding allies, long-term care for veterans, as well as interest on the debt that the U.S. Treasury will incur.
Linda Bilmes, a professor at Harvard's Kennedy School, believes the final cost of the war against Iran over the coming years may reach one trillion dollars.
Consequences That Will Continue for Years
American taxpayers are not the only ones paying the cost of the war against Iran. Disruption of energy supply caused by the U.S. war against Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic has also increased the prices of fuel, transportation, and goods.
Brown University's Climate Solutions Lab estimates that Americans have paid more than $79.8 billion in additional costs for gasoline and diesel since the start of the war against Iran, equivalent to about $609 per household.
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, also estimates that a typical American family will incur about $1,000 in additional costs due to the war against Iran, including increased gasoline and diesel prices, transportation and goods costs, and interest rates, plus about $250 in taxes related to direct military costs.
Westfall concludes her report by writing that the bill for the war against Iran does not only appear in the Pentagon budget, but has also found its way into Americans' pockets and the prices of goods and energy, and its financial consequences may continue for many years.
Meanwhile, accurately calculating the global economic impacts of the U.S. and Zionist regime war against Iran, especially the consequences of the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, remains difficult. But this issue could push the economic cost of the war against Iran far beyond the tens of billions of dollars currently seen in official calculations.
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