Pentagon Estimate Puts U.S. Cost of Iran War at Over $47 Billion

The U.S. war with Iran has cost the military at least $47.1 billion as of mid-October, according to a new U.S. Central Command estimate provided to lawmakers and obtained by CBS News and Reuters. The figure is more than 25 percent above the $37.5 billion that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave lawmakers about three months ago. About $29 billion is for replacing expended munitions, $6.1 billion for lost equipment and $11.9 billion for incremental costs such as support for service members. The estimate excludes damage to U.S. bases in the Middle East, many of which Iranian drones and missiles targeted. The Congressional Budget Office said last month the war could cost $2 billion to $3 billion monthly while it continues, partly to replace interceptor missiles. The conflict enters its ninth month this week, and exchanges between the U.S. and Iran, common over the summer, have been quiet in recent weeks. President Trump has suggested he could restart hostilities after the midterms unless Iran agrees to a deal.

The right-leaning Daily Mail leads with politics: its headline says Hegseth's Pentagon "hammers" Trump days before the November 3 midterms. It notes the Pentagon has not made the estimate public, and focuses on Republicans possibly losing both chambers, Democrats being favored for the House, energy prices and GOP candidates breaking with Trump. It gives the $29 billion munitions figure but little else of the breakdown. Left-leaning CBS News leads with the cost breakdown, the exclusion of base damage, the CBO projection and Trump's remark about another "little Epic Fury" if no deal is reached. MS NOW's headline stresses the "revised price tag" eight months in and says the real number is significantly larger. Both sides use the same $47 billion and $37.5 billion figures; they differ in emphasis on electoral fallout versus cost and war outlook. Reuters, the source of the data, reports the figures plainly.