Expert: Iran war cost $72 billion over first two months

A new report finds the Iran war has cost the U.S. nearly $72 billion in its first 60 days — about $1.2 billion per day.

Stephen Semler, journalist and co-founder of the Security Policy Reform Institute, produced the new estimate for the Popular Information newsletter. His $71.8 billion total accounts for the cost of operations, weapons, and U.S. subsidies for Israel’s bombs and interceptors. And it includes the roughly $11.9 billion in military assets lost or damaged during the war.

Image credit: Stephen Semler

Semler’s figures dwarf the administration’s estimates, provided at a congressional hearing last week. “The $25 billion war cost given by Pentagon Secretary [Pete] Hegseth and acting Comptroller [Jules] Hurst before Congress was a lie,” Semler wrote. “It was a denial of the Iran war’s spiraling costs, one of several foreseen consequences of the Trump administration’s decision to go to war.”

Semler’s findings come as Washington weighs a possible Iran war supplemental, which would replace munitions and other military equipment lost or destroyed during the conflict. That package is estimated to cost about $80 to $100 billion. Congress will also consider a record $1.5 trillion defense budget for fiscal year 2027.

“It will be up to Congress and its power of the purse to decide whether to enable Trump’s doubling down on another endless war,” Semler wrote.

Harvard economist Linda Bilmes predicted last month that the U.S. could pay at least $1 trillion for the Iran war in the long run. Her estimate encompasses the war’s immediate operational expenses as well as its after effects, such as costs affiliated with veterans’ care.