WASHINGTON — The war on Iran has cost American taxpayers at least $47.1 billion through Oct. 16, with bombs, missiles and other munitions accounting for more than 60 percent of the expenses, the Pentagon has told US lawmakers.The estimate, disclosed last week, comes just days before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, which will determine whether US President Donald Trump’s Republican Party will maintain control of Congress for the next two years.In a statement on Wednesday, the Pentagon also said it had “successfully obligated 97.5 percent” of the funds Trump provided the department. Last July, Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA) outlining tax and spending plans, which came into effect earlier this year.Even with 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 US 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 on 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 US 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 US 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.US Transportation Command spent $92.2 million to move supplies and equipment, and US Cyber Command spent $14 million on “cyber support operations,” the official said.The department’s figures are almost certainly on the low side, congressional officials said, 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 US 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.While the Pentagon has publicly acknowledged 18 US service member fatalities in the war, The Washington Post has cited six unnamed US officials stating the true death toll is at least 22. According to the official Pentagon 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 senators from the Democratic Party had written to Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command, demanding that the Pentagon reveal the true cost of the war. Their letter said the Trump administration’s “ongoing efforts to hide the true cost of this war are outrageous and unacceptable”.Trump has not commented on the latest Pentagon estimate. But the Trump administration’s war on Iran has grown increasingly unpopular with US citizens due to its impact on US and global energy costs.Since early March, shortly after the war began, Iran has closed the critical Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf, through which about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies were shipped until then. This has sent the price of oil spiralling and caused shortages globally. In the US, diesel, which is heavily relied on by farmers and small businesses, has nearly doubled in price.In a post on X following the latest Pentagon report, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York wrote: “For eight months, American families have been buried by the heavy cost of Trump’s disastrous war in Iran.“Trump and his ego led us into this war with no plan, no authority, and no exit strategy,” he added.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.Higher fuel costs are also driving up the cost of food – with shortages of oil and gas affecting nearly every stage of the food supply chain.With the war entering its ninth month and no peace deal in sight, last month the CBO said the war with Iran could cost approximately $2bn to $3bn per month for as long as it continues.The Pentagon’s inspector general also said last month that US troops are facing “strategic inventory shortfalls” as the war continues.But the Trump administration has denied it is running low on weapons stockpiles.Meanwhile, the country’s national debt has surpassed a record $40 trillion, two years before expected.
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