Politicians from both sides of the political spectrum have come out against the US war with Iran, questioning its purpose and cost. Recently, Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized President Donald Trump sharply on social media for making life “more expensive” with his war in Iran.
“It’s costing American taxpayers $1 billion a day to fund this war,” the Massachusetts Senator said in a video posted to her social media accounts on Friday. “That is $11,500 every single second.” Of course, this is not an exact amount. The figure is based on a preliminary estimate provided by Pentagon officials to Congress last week, estimating that the war would cost about $1 billion per day.
However, the war carries a much higher price, with indirect consequences for U.S. consumers and the planet that make it significantly worse.
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Washington’s $2 Billion-a-Day Standoff with Tehran
According to a report by the New York Times, the Pentagon gave a more comprehensive briefing, telling Congress that just the first six days of the war had exceeded $11.3 billion in cost. These numbers put the price tag at about $1.88 billion per day. That’s nearly $21,800 per second.
The reports also noted that this was a low-end estimate and that the price tag did not include many other costs. Pentagon’s estimates do not include the cost of the buildup of military hardware in the region before the war. Using just these conservative estimates, a live ticker shows that as of Friday afternoon, the estimated cost of the war that began on February 28 is already fast approaching $19 billion, less than two weeks later.
The initial strikes relied on sophisticated and expensive precision-guided weapons. For example, the AGM-154 Glide Bomb can cost between $578,000 and $836,000 per unit. As the campaign has progressed, the Pentagon has switched to less expensive munitions, including the Joint Direct Attack Munition, or JDAM. The smallest JDAM warhead costs about $1,000, while the guidance kit that converts conventional bombs into precision weapons costs roughly $38,000.
The rapid burn rate is expected to require Congress to eventually pass a supplementary defense spending package to buy new munitions to backfill stockpiles. However, Trump and Pete Hegseth have so far been noncommittal about the duration of the Iran war and its ultimate objectives. The flippancy from the administration has left the lawmakers from both parties increasingly skeptical about approving additional funding for another ‘forever war.’
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The True Price Of The Iran War
More than 1,500 people have been killed in Iran and Lebanon, including hundreds of children, since the US-Israeli war on Iran was launched 10 days ago. Iranian response attacks have killed dozens and led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the channel through which 20% of the world’s oil transits.
The resulting disruption has seen oil prices surge past $100 per barrel, and gas prices have hit multi-year highs amid fears of prolonged interruption to global supplies. Economists say the rise in oil prices will likely raise the cost of a range of household goods. Households could also soon see higher heating and electricity bills amid rising energy costs.
In the last fossil fuel-driven cost-of-living crisis, food prices jumped, and they could well do so again. The International Energy Agency estimates that oil and gas prices contribute up to 50% of food price variability.
In Iran, US-Israeli strikes on oil storage facilities in Tehran ignited towering infernos that saw oil rain from the sky. Tehran residents have described the black smoke-filled air as “apocalyptic”, with some reporting difficulty breathing and burning in their eyes and throat.
Experts have warned that chemical reactions in the sky could produce acid rain, and that exposure to the airborne compounds could increase the risk of cancer, skin and eye irritation, and cardiovascular conditions. If the pollutants in the rain make their way into water sources, then aquatic life and drinking water supplies could also be affected by this toxic pollution.
That’s not to mention the climate impacts that war already has, even without attacks on oil infrastructure. The first 12 months of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, for example, emitted 120 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
The war is once again exposing the systemic risk that our governments are taking by continuing to rely on oil and gas extracted far away and shipped around the world.
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