The longstanding conflict between the United States and Iran entered a new phase on Saturday when joint US and Israeli airstrikes targeted Iran, marking a moment of open military hostility.
With US President Donald Trump suggesting the operation could last four to five weeks, we consider whether Washington can sustain a new war in the Middle East and what it may ultimately cost.
What is Operation Epic Fury?
On February 28, President Trump acknowledged in an eight-minute video posted to Truth Social that the United States had participated in what he called a “massive combat operation” inside Iran.
The Pentagon later announced that the mission was named “Operation Epic Fury.”
President Trump said the goal was to “prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.”
“We’re going to destroy their missiles, we’re going to completely destroy their missile industry. We’re going to wipe it out completely,” he added.
The US military said it had struck more than 1,250 targets in Iran since the operation began on Saturday. In a separate statement, the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said it had attacked and destroyed 11 Iranian vessels.
The operation reportedly included airstrikes, sea-launched cruise missiles, and coordinated attacks on nuclear facilities and key personnel connected to Iran’s defense establishment.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, who has led the country since 1989, was severely damaged and killed when his compound in Tehran was attacked in the first wave of US and Israeli attacks.
President Trump on Monday vowed to continue the war as long as necessary, suggesting it could last for weeks. The Iranian Red Crescent said as of Monday, 555 people had been killed in 130 locations across Iran.
How much has the US already spent on Israel and the Middle East since 2023?
Since October 7, 2023, the United States has provided approximately $21.7 billion in military aid to Israel, according to Brown University’s 2025 War Expenses Report.
In addition, U.S. taxpayers have funded U.S. operations in support of Israel in Yemen, Iran, and throughout the Middle East at a cost of between $9.65 billion and $12.07 billion.
This brings total U.S. spending related to the conflict from $31.35 billion to $33.77 billion, and continues to grow.
What weapon systems are being used in the Iran war?
According to CENTCOM, Operation Epic Fury involves more than 20 weapons systems across air, sea, land and missile defense forces.
CENTCOM announced that more than 1,000 targets inside Iran were attacked using more than 20 different air, sea and land systems and missile defense forces.
“The focus for the United States and Israel right now is to blunt or reduce Iran’s ability to continue wreaking havoc as quickly as possible. We want to prevent these attacks, or at least mitigate them as much as possible,” Kevin Donegan, former CENTCOM operations chief, told Al Jazeera.
Weapon systems include:
Air power:
This campaign has relied heavily on U.S. aviation assets, including:
B-1 Bomber B-2 Stealth Bomber: Used to attack major nuclear and military infrastructure F-35 Lightning II and F-22 Raptor: Advanced stealth fighters F-15 Fighter: Widely used. Three aircraft were lost in an accident over Kuwait on March 1. F-16 Fighting Falcon, F/A-18 Super Hornet, and A-10 attack aircraft: All have confirmed attack and support roles. EA-18G Growler: Used for electronic attack and suppression of enemy air defenses. Airborne Early Warning and Control Aircraft (AWACS): Provides command, control, and battlespace management.
Drones and long-range attack systems
Unmanned systems and rocket artillery are also part of the operation.
LUCAS Drones: This operation marks the first combat use of these “low-cost unmanned combat attack system” one-way drones reverse-engineered from Iranian designs. MQ-9 Reaper Drone: Serves in surveillance and precision strike roles. M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS): Ground-Based Rocket Artillery Tomahawk Cruise Missile: Fired from Naval Assets.
missile defense system
Patriot Interceptor Missile System and THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense): A counter-drone system used to intercept Iranian ballistic missiles and drones.
projection of naval power
Two carrier strike groups led by USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Abraham Lincoln: Provide massive power at sea P-8 Poseidon: Conduct maritime patrols and reconnaissance Cargo and tankers: C-17 Globemasters, C-130 Hercules, and various aerial refueling tankers keep logistics flowing.
How much damage could a war with Iran cost the United States?
It is difficult to predict the total cost of ongoing military operations. Experts say it’s too early to tell how much damage a new war will ultimately cost the United States.
“The Pentagon doesn’t release that information, so we can only speculate… But there are a lot of variables and we can estimate the cost of individual weapons. We can estimate the cost of operations, naval operations,” Christopher Pebble, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center, told Al Jazeera.
It is estimated that the US may have spent about $779 million in the first 24 hours of Operation Epic Fury, Anadolu Agency reported.
Pre-attack military build-ups, including repositioning aircraft, deploying more than 10 naval vessels, and mobilizing regional assets, are estimated to have cost an additional $630 million.
According to the Center for a New American Security, it costs about $6.5 million a day to operate a carrier strike group such as the USS Gerald R. Ford.
There are also costs associated with the loss of equipment.
At least three U.S. military jets were shot down in Kuwait in what U.S. officials described as a cross-fire incident.
But experts suggest the bigger concern may be inventory rather than financial sustainability.
“It’s sustainable in terms of cost. I mean, the United States has a multitrillion-dollar defense budget and a request for $1.5 trillion. I think that’s scary, but the president is committed to it,” Prebble said.
“So the $1 trillion figure is significant. The question is about the actual inventory of the U.S. arsenal, especially weapons like the SM-6, which is a standard missile used as an interceptor for interceptors, Patriot missiles and ballistic missiles.”
Prebble cautioned that high interception rates won’t last forever.
He said: “It is reasonable to assume that the current pace of operations, in terms of the number of interceptions, certainly cannot continue indefinitely and probably cannot continue for more than a few weeks.”
He noted that similar concerns arose during June’s 12-day conflict with Iran, with speculation that both the U.S. and Israeli militaries were running low on stocks of interceptor missiles. Some supplies may have since been replenished, but interceptors have also been allocated to other theaters.
“Some of these interceptor missiles were intended to be sent to Ukraine to counter a Russian attack. Some are being used in Asia and the Indo-Pacific. They would be important in the event of a contingency there,” he said. “So there would be some concern about removing those weapons from that theater.”
Manufacturing of replacement products will not occur immediately.
“Patriot missiles and SM-6s…are very complex equipment,” Prebble added.
“We’re not churning out hundreds or thousands of units a day. That’s not the pace of manufacturing.”
