Iran war’s cost grows to $43.6 billion in new US military estimate

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military's price tag for the Iran war has grown to $43.6 billion as of Sept. 3, according to a new estimate provided this week to lawmakers.

The figure from U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, offers the most up-to-date cost for the conflict since it was launched by the United States and Israel on Feb. 28. A Congressional Budget Office report released Tuesday said the war had cost $38 billion through Aug. 1 and will continue to rack up expenses of around $3 billion a month depending on the conflict's intensity.

The new breakdown, seen by The Associated Press and reported earlier by Punchbowl News, also showed the continued use of expensive munitions by American forces. Weapons costs jumped by more than $6 billion in just over a month, from $21.7 billion listed in the CBO report to $28.1 billion in U.S. Central Command’s estimate.

The financial cost is just one measure of the impact of the Iran war, which also is affecting oil prices and the stock market and has led to deaths and injuries of American troops. The political costs will be calculated in November's midterm congressional elections, with Republicans facing increasing headwinds from the war's unpopularity.

The U.S. military's one-page breakdown to Congress includes costs for operating warships, planes and bases as well as for equipment losses and medical support for troops. Casualties tallied by the Pentagon have included 18 dead and more than 830 wounded, according to the Defense Casualty Analysis System.

The report does not include damage to U.S. bases in the Middle East, which the Islamic Republic has attacked with ballistic missiles and drones. A report from the Pentagon inspector general released Monday said Iranian strikes have damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and other structures at U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan.

In the new report to Congress, the figure for munitions was by far the largest, constituting well over half of all costs. The advanced weapons that have been in the most demand are defensive missile interceptors, such as those launched by the Army's Patriot and THAAD systems.

The diminished stockpiles also have caused alarm in Europe, where U.S. and NATO officials have told the AP that there is a “beyond critical” shortage of missile interceptors. Saudi Arabia also is running low on interceptors and has turned to regional and Western allies for assistance as its standoff with Houthi rebels in Yemen drags on.