Unpacking The Cost Of The War On Iran

1A

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4.3 • 4.5K Ratings

🗓️ 12 March 2026

⏱️ 44 minutes

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Summary

Waging war is not cheap. Experts estimate that the U.S. has already spent more than $10 billion launching missiles at Iran in the past few weeks.

Meanwhile, thanks to fighting in the Strait of Hormuz disrupting the global energy supply trade, the price of oil is rising sharply worldwide. With no clear end in sight, how will Congress wrangle the high price tag of the war – economically and politically?

We try and make sense of the cost of war, especially as more and more Americans feel the squeeze in their budgets at home.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, it's Jen. Just a quick heads-up before we start the show, the news moves fast, and things may have changed by the time you hear this episode.
0:07.6	So stay up to date with all the latest by listening to your local NPR station and visiting NPR.org.
0:27.2	It's been 13 days since the U.S. initiated Operation Epic Fury without congressional approval.
0:33.1	The first 100 hours of the U.S.-led strikes on Iran cost around $3.7 billion.
0:37.7	That's according to estimates from the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
0:42.4	When asked about how long the war may last, President Trump has sent mixed signals.
0:47.8	We're winning very decisively. We're way ahead of schedule.
0:51.9	We've already won in many ways, but we haven't won enough.
0:58.2	We could call it a tremendous success right now, as we leave here, I could call it, or we could go further, and we're going to go further.
1:01.1	But without a congressional declaration of war and a spending package to back it up, how is
1:06.5	the Pentagon paying for its military campaign in Iran?
1:09.7	The Pentagon hasn't yet shared an estimate of how
1:11.7	much the operation will cost. But some GOP lawmakers estimate the Pentagon is spending as much as
1:16.9	$2 billion a day on the war. That's according to reporting from Politico. And the cost goes beyond
1:23.1	drones, missiles, and fighter jets. People are also facing higher energy bills and gas prices at home
1:28.8	as the fighting in the Middle East drives up the price of oil. The war and its impact on the U.S.
1:33.8	economy could spell trouble for the GOP come midterms. I'm Jen White. You're listening to the
1:39.3	1A podcast. Today, we explore the costs of the war, militarily, economically, and politically. Stay with us.
1:51.2	Let's get back to our conversation about the cost of the U.S. and Israel's war against Iran.
1:56.4	Joining us from Massachusetts is Heidi Peltier. She's a senior researcher at the Thomas J. Watson
2:01.9	Junior School of International and Public Affairs at Brown University. She's also the director of
2:06.5	programs at Brown's Costs of War Project. Heidi, welcome to the program. Thanks so much for having me.
	...

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