How expensive has the Iran War gotten, about eight months in?
According to The Hill, the cost has risen to $47 billion, citing a U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) estimate from earlier this month that Congress received this week.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth hosts a teleconference with NFL players Aaron Jones and Elijah Higgins during their visit to the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing in Kuwait from the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., April 2, 2025. (DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Alexander Kubitza)
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth boards the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser, USS Chosin (CG 65), Panama, April 9, 2025. U.S. Southern Command and the Panamanian security forces collaborate to ensure and maintain regional stability during natural disasters, medical catastrophes or regional conflicts. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Van Hoang)
That figure was $43.6 billion last month.
Of the $47 billion, more than half, $29 billion, goes to munition replacement. Another $12 billion covers “incremental costs of military action,” and another $6.1 billion covers replacement of equipment losses. Another $7.6 billion consists of the Air Force’s support for “deployed personnel, airlift, base, communication support and transportation in theater.”
This does not include the reported $184 million allocated to cover damage to U.S. military bases from strikes during the war.
The war has also been expensive in another way: According to Moody’s Analytics’ Mark Zandi, the war has cost the average American household about $2,000 since it began in February, with more than half of that caused by higher energy prices, and the rest the result of higher interest rates and military costs.
“Consider that the war’s costs taken together have absorbed about half the average American household’s income gain over the past eight months,” Zandi wrote on X earlier this month. “No wonder the war is so unpopular.”
How Long Will it Go?
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said this week that the war in Iran will end “when I want it to.”
“Somebody asked me before, ‘When will the war in Iran end?’” The president said this week at a campaign rally in Lubbock, Tex. “Whenever I want it to end.”
Trump has promised to relaunch the war with Iran until after the midterm elections, which are next Tuesday. Still, Trump has said he is seriously considering launching such a war after the elections.
What Happens After?
In a separate story this week, The Hill discussed likely clashes between Trump and Congress after the election.
Democrats in Congress could push to remove Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a callback to Donald Rumsfeld, who resigned from the Pentagon in 2006 right after a Republican midterm election wipeout amid an unpopular war.
Per The Hill, Democrats will demand Hegseth’s removal after the elections and are also threatening to withhold Pentagon funding while the war in Iran continues. The Hill said it could even lead to a government shutdown.
“There’s no world in which Democrats are funding the Iran war,” one senior Senate Democratic aide told The Hill. “I think Republicans are going to have to do some version of reconciliation if they want to fund the DOD.”
Democrats could even move to impeach Hegseth in the next Congress if they take the majority, the report said, and even if that effort fails, the Defense Secretary can expect tough questioning during congressional testimony.
An impeachment effort for Hegseth is already underway, led by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), a Republican headed out of Congress at the end of the current term. However, it’s unlikely to go far, with the GOP still running Congress. Massie’s resolution accuses Hegseth of waging war without Congressional authorization, while also attacking the Venezuelan boats without the consent of Congress.
Pete Out?
Meanwhile, Puck reported that Hegseth may be looking for an off-ramp out of the cabinet. The outlet reported this week that the “Secretary of War” is aiming for an appointment to the U.S. Senate seat from Tennessee. The current holder of that seat, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), is running for governor and likely to win, which would leave the governor to fill the Senate vacancy.
Hegseth, who is from Minnesota but lived in Tennessee for a time before his cabinet appointment, is said to be interested in the Blackburn Senate seat, which has two years remaining in the current term.
The Pentagon, however, has forcefully denied any implication that Hegseth could be on the way out.
“These speculations are nothing more than beltway gossip by anonymous sources,” Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson told the media.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has written thousands of articles on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
