By STEPHEN M. LEPORE, US SENIOR REPORTER
The first week of war with Iran cost the United States $11.3 billion, according to the Pentagon, which provided the estimate to Congress in a briefing earlier this week.
Some $5 billion was spent on munitions alone during the first weekend of the conflict, the US military reported.
The Pentagon provided the estimate to Congress in a briefing earlier this week, according to a person familiar with the situation who was granted anonymity to discuss the private meeting.
Donald Trump‘s administration previously indicated it would be sending Congress a request for supplemental funding for the war, but that appears to have cooled, for now.
Senator Roger Wicker, the GOP chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Wednesday that he was not expecting the supplemental request this month.
Both sides have dug in, hoping to outlast the other as the conflict upends trade routes, chokes supplies of fuel and fertilizer coming out of the Gulf and threatens air traffic through one of the world’s most-traveled regions.
US Central Command continued to hammer home the successes of the war, posting a video via X showing the destruction of an Iranian aircraft to social media.
‘The Iranian regime is losing air capability day by day. US forces aren’t just defending against Iranian threats, we are methodically dismantling them,’ the post read.
The first week of war with Iran cost the United States $11.3 billion, according to the Pentagon, which provided the estimate to Congress in a briefing earlier this week
The military reported spending $5 billion on munitions alone in the war’s first weekend
Iran has targeted oil fields and refineries in Gulf Arab nations and effectively stopped cargo traffic through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of all traded oil passes.
In response, the International Energy Agency agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil, the largest volume of emergency oil reserves in its history, in a bid to counter the war’s effects on energy markets.
The US planned to release 172 million barrels of oil next week from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve to combat steep prices.
Donald Trump said earlier Wednesday that the war will end ‘soon’ as the global economy reels from soaring oil prices triggered by the conflict.
‘Little this and that… Any time I want it to end, it will end,’ Trump said in a brief phone call with Axios.
‘The war is going great. We are way ahead of the timetable. We have done more damage than we thought possible, even in the original six-week period.’
As the president claims his war goals in the Middle East are largely accomplished, Israeli and US officials say they are preparing to continue striking Iran for at least two more weeks.
Seven US service members have been killed after Donald Trump launched strikes against Iran on February 28.