The real cost of Iran war

The publicly acknowledged figure amounts to $30 billion, while the internal Defense Department assessments indicate that the numbers are more likely to range between $80 billion and $100 billion, NBC News reports.

The previously undisclosed expenses include the loss of advanced aircraft, the extensive destruction of American military installations across the Middle East, and other publicly unknown operational expenses. The publicised amount of $30 billion accounts for expended munitions and does not include infrastructure repairs or asset replacement.

Now the cost to rebuild said infrastructure damaged in Iranian strikes could exceed $30 billion by itself. Damage dealt to military facilities in Bahrain alone is estimated to reach $1 billion. The Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Manama and U.S. installations in Kuwait have also suffered extensive damage. While the U.S. managed to relocate tens of thousands of American troops prior to the hostilities, much of the military equipment was left behind, prone to Iranian attacks. According to a May Congressional Research Service report, over 40 aircraft were reportedly damaged. The uncalculated replacement costs include F-15E Strike Eagles, an F-35A Lightning II, an A-10 Thunderbolt II, and seven KC-135 refuelers, Clash Report enumerates.

Uncalculated operational expenses include the emergency relocation of regional forces and the deployment of two aircraft carriers and a flotilla of supporting vessels. One also needs to add the expenses regarding the housing of displaced troops in regional accommodations and the subsequent repatriation of personnel. The publicly available $30 billion figure does not account for the last two months of combat operations during which American forces executed strikes against hundreds of targets in Iran and sustained further aircraft losses.

American lawmakers are not eager to further approve funds for the Pentagon, which is currently pursuing a $68 billion supplemental budget request to bridge funding gaps until Congress considers a new $1.5 trillion budget in autumn. Senator Angus King addressed the Pentagon, saying that he is “unpersuaded by your [the Pentagon’s] professions of ignorance about the cost of the war. I think it’s very frustrating to the American people that we can’t get a straight answer on what this war is costing, not to mention what it’s costing and has cost the American people at the gas pump and in other costs.”

The information surfaced during an ongoing escalation in the region. The U.S. has resumed attacks after Iranian strikes on cargo vessels. The Strait of Hormuz has been closed once again, and the previous signs of a possible lasting peace are nowhere to be seen.