Iran War Cost Hits $47 Billion as Trump Says It Ends When He Decides

The official cost of the war in Iran has climbed to $47 billion, up $3 billion from the previous month, as President Donald Trump told supporters at a Texas rally the conflict will end "whenever I want it to be over." Trump spoke about a week before the midterm elections. "But we have to have it end properly, with… a total statement [that] they will never have a nuclear weapon," he said.

The Hill reported the new cost figure, citing a US Central Command estimate obtained Tuesday. Munition replacement accounts for $29 billion of the total. Another $12 billion covers incremental costs of military action, $6.1 billion goes to replace equipment losses, and $7.6 billion pays for Air Force support of deployed personnel, airlift, base, communication support, and transportation in theater. The estimate does not include repairs to damaged US military bases in the Middle East.

Those additional costs push the figure higher. Stephen Semler, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, estimated in July that the United States spent more than $103 billion in the first four months of the war. Consumers in the United States have paid an extra $146 billion on gasoline and diesel since the war began in February, according to a tracker maintained by the Watson School of International and Public Affairs at Brown University.

Trump said Tuesday the war would end "very quick." At the same time, The Wall Street Journal reported that the US has told several Gulf Arab countries to prepare for a short, intense military campaign after the midterm elections. The Journal cited unnamed people briefed on the conversations and reported that US forces in the region have been restocking munitions, while bomber aircraft and jet fighters prepare for strikes.

An additional aircraft carrier strike group and Marine expeditionary unit are poised to join roughly 20 other warships operating in the Middle East next month, though some ships could rotate out, the Journal reported. The communications through diplomatic and military channels are among a growing number of indications that the US and Israel are readying a new round of heavy combat operations against Iran.

Iran has said repeatedly that it would not develop nuclear weapons, including in the opening pages of the Obama-era agreement that Trump ended during his first term. The war, which began in February, has killed thousands of people and sent gas prices higher.