Pentagon: U.S. Spent Approximately $11 Billion in the First Week of Military Action Against Iran

Reference News Network reported on March 15 According to a report from the U.S. Politico website on March 12, a Pentagon official stated on the 12th that the United States spent approximately $11 billion on military operations against Iran last week. This is the first public estimate of the costs of this conflict. Democratic lawmakers insist that the actual spending is much higher.

The report stated that Acting Comptroller of the Department of Defense Jules Hurst said at a defense conference in Washington that this is just a "rough number." He mentioned that his department is calculating a more comprehensive figure for a supplemental budget request. The Pentagon plans to submit this request to the White House and Congress in the coming days.

It is claimed that this amount is roughly enough to build a new large naval warship, such as a Ford-class aircraft carrier.

Lawmakers said they expect the supplemental funding request for military operations in Iran to reach at least $50 billion. The White House and the Pentagon have not confirmed this figure.

The Trump administration did not set a clear end date for military operations in Iran. President Trump has stated that the operation could last four weeks or longer, but Defense Secretary Esper has refused to provide a timeline for the mission.

Analysts outside the government have provided different estimates of the costs of this military operation. An analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that the cost of the first 100 hours of air and naval strikes was $3.7 billion. The American Enterprise Institute estimates that the combat costs so far range between $11.2 billion and $14.5 billion.

Senate Appropriations Committee senior member and Democrat Chris Coons questioned whether the real number might be higher. He said, "I don't know if this also includes the operating costs of all ships and aircraft, as well as fuel costs and personnel labor costs. If they come back to us and say, 'We spent this much on this operation,' it must include several months of preparation and deployment costs, as well as the costs of replenishing ammunition stocks, filling munitions bays, and operations." (Translated by Ge Xuelai)