Published On 4/29/2026
A senior Pentagon official said on Wednesday that the war on Iran has cost the United States about $25 billion so far, in what is the first official estimate of the war’s costs.
Jules Hurst, acting comptroller, told members of the House Armed Services Committee that most of this money was spent on munitions.
Hirst did not clarify whether this estimate includes the expected costs of rebuilding or repairing the infrastructure of military bases in the Middle East that were damaged by the conflict.
Representative Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, responded to Hearst, saying, “I’m glad you answered this question, because we’ve been asking it for a very long time, and no one has given us a number yet.”
The United States began launching air strikes on Iran on February 28, and both parties are currently committed to a fragile ceasefire. The Pentagon sent tens of thousands of additional troops to the Middle East, in addition to maintaining 3 aircraft carriers in the region.
13 American soldiers were killed in the war and hundreds were injured. Disturbances in oil and natural gas shipments since the outbreak of war have led to higher gasoline prices in the United States, as well as the prices of agricultural products such as fertilizer, on top of a long list of already high-cost consumer goods.
Only 6 months before the midterm congressional elections, opinion polls indicate the lead of the Democratic Party, which is trying to link the worsening cost of living to the war in Iran, which does not enjoy popular support in the United States.
President Donald Trump’s Republican Party may face a difficult battle in these elections to maintain its majority in the House of Representatives.
Trump’s popularity has declined since the United States and Israel launched the war on Iran, which led to a sharp jump in gasoline prices.
A recent opinion poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos showed that only 34% of Americans support the US war on Iran, down from 36% in mid-April and 38% in mid-March.
