The first week of the war against Iran cost the United States more than $11.3 billion, senators were informed in a Pentagon briefing, according to New York Times, highlighting the rate at which the war is consuming weaponry and resources.
According to the Times, unnamed sources familiar with Tuesday’s closed-door briefing informed members of Congress that the figure excludes many costs associated with the buildup to the strikes, implying that the final tally for the first week could rise significantly.
The independent think tank in Washington, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), estimates that the first 100 hours of Operation Epic Fury cost $3.7 billion, or more than $891 million per day.
The CSIS stated that the majority of these costs, $3.5 billion, had not previously been budgeted.
The Iran War Cost Tracker website, which calculates the cost of the fight in real time, displayed a total of more than $17 billion on its counter at around 08:00 GMT on Thursday.
According to the website, the US spends $1 billion every day on the fight.
However, it emphasizes that the total cost of the conflict is likely higher, given the estimates do not account for long-term expenses such as veteran healthcare.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump vowed Wednesday that the US must “finish the job” in Iran—hours after suggesting the war could be over soon because Washington had run out of targets.
“We don’t want to leave early, do we? We’ve got to finish the job, right?” Trump said this while talking about the US-Israeli operation against Iran during a speech in Hebron, Kentucky.
