The true price tag of the Iran war is closer to $50 billion, U.S. officials familiar with internal assessments told CBS News, roughly double the public estimate the Pentagon cited in congressional testimony this week.

In testimony Wednesday on Capitol Hill, a Pentagon official placed the cost of the Defense Department’s Operation Epic Fury at about $25 billion, a figure that did not fully account for damaged or destroyed equipment or U.S. military installation repairs.

As Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared before lawmakers this week to defend the Pentagon’s sprawling $1.5 trillion budget request, U.S. officials familiar with internal assessments presented a dramatically different figure.

Much of the gap is accounted for by munitions that have been used and need to be replaced. For instance, the Pentagon has lost 24 MQ-9 Reaper drones — sophisticated unmanned aircraft that can cost $30 million or more apiece — underscoring how quickly resources are being consumed in the conflict.

The Pentagon’s acting comptroller, Jules Hurst, testified before the Senate on Thursday that the cost of military construction is hard to estimate. When Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut questioned what was included in the $25 billion, Hurst said, “We don’t know what our future posture is going to be or the future construction of those bases.”

CNN first reported that the real estimate is closer to $40-50 billion.

The war is hitting Americans’ pocketbooks more immediately, too. In a congressional hearing this week, Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California asked Hegseth how much the war will cost Americans through higher prices.

Hegseth didn’t respond directly. “I would simply ask you what the cost is of an Iranian nuclear bomb,” the defense secretary said, accusing Khanna of “playing gotcha questions about domestic things.”

The right-of-center American Enterprise Institute estimates higher fuel and fertilizer costs alone translate to an extra $150 per month for each U.S. household.

Meanwhile, oil prices have surged to their highest level since July 2022 due to the Iran situation, pushing U.S. gasoline prices higher. The Trump administration says the U.S. is blockading the Strait of Hormuz, and the effective closure of this critical waterway continues to drive up global energy prices.

Source: CBS News, CNN