The United States spent more than $11.3 billion during the first week of its war with Iran, according to a report by the The New York Times citing lawmakers briefed by the United States Department of Defense.
The report said members of the US Congress were informed during a closed-door Pentagon briefing that the figure does not include several costs linked to the military buildup before the strikes, suggesting the overall bill for the first week could be significantly higher.
Defence officials had earlier told Congress that about $5.6 billion worth of munitions were used in the first two days of fighting alone — a spending rate far higher than earlier public estimates.
The Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that the first 100 hours of Operation Epic Fury cost $3.7 billion, equivalent to more than $891 million per day.
The think tank noted that $3.5 billion of that amount had not been previously budgeted.
Meanwhile, the online Iran War Cost Tracker estimated the total cost of the conflict at over $17 billion as of Thursday morning, with the United States spending roughly $1 billion daily on the war.
The tracker noted that the actual cost could be much higher, as the estimates do not include long-term obligations such as healthcare for military veterans.
