The Pentagon shaved roughly half off the cost of the Iran war when telling Congress it was about $25 billion, while internal estimates put it closer to $50 billion.
On Wednesday, a senior Defense Department official said before the House Armed Services Committee that President Donald Trump’s war in the Middle East, now in its third month, had so far cost $25 billion. Most of the cost so far has gone toward munitions, operations and maintenance, and equipment replacement, said acting Under Secretary of Defense Jules Hurst.
But U.S. officials familiar with internal assessments told CBS News that the offensive’s true price tag to date is closer to $50 billion. The Pentagon’s official figure presented in congressional testimony this week likely did not account for equipment destroyed or damaged in the conflict, the officials suggested.
The deeply unpopular conflict began on Feb. 28 when the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran. Trump initially presented his military intervention in Iran as a regime-change operation, but it has since morphed into a rapidly expanding war that has led to the blockade of the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping route.
So far, 13 U.S. service members have been killed, hundreds more have been injured, and the closure of the strait has sparked a global energy crisis.
The war was previously reported to be costing U.S. taxpayers almost $900 million a day.
CNN also reported that the real cost estimate of the Iran war to date is closer to $40-50 billion, when considering the costs of U.S. assets destroyed in the war and the cost it would take to rebuild U.S. military installations.
At least nine U.S. military sites were struck by Iran in the first 48 hours of the conflict, while several costly radar systems were destroyed in more than one location, the publication reported.
According to CBS News, at least 24 U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones costing at least $30 million each have been destroyed in the military operation so far.
The revelation is likely to make the war even more unpopular, as Americans grapple with the soaring cost of living and surging fuel prices.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Pentagon for comment.
A fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is in place, and the two nations remain in a standoff over the Strait of Hormuz.
In his opening remarks before Congress on Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth slammed “naysayers” who have been critical of Trump’s decision to attack Iran.
“The biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless naysayers and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans,” he said.
“Defeatists from the cheap seats, who two months in, seek to undermine the incredible efforts that have been undertaken and the historic nature of taking on a 40-year threat with the courage no other president has had,” Hegseth added.
