PNN – Newsweek has reported that the actual cost of a war with Iran is approximately seven times higher than the estimate provided by the U.S. Secretary of Defense.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network; Newsweek reported that after roughly eight months of conflict involving the U.S. and Israel against Iran, the cost of this engagement has reached an average of nearly $2,000 per American household, thereby increasing the economic burden on U.S. citizens.
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, has estimated the total cost of this war at $265 billion—a figure roughly seven times greater than the estimate for direct military costs provided by U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
According to Zandi, rising fuel prices, increased home heating costs, and higher mortgage rates are the primary drivers of this economic pressure. The price of a gallon of regular gasoline has climbed from approximately $2.98 before the war to over $4.30, while the price of diesel has risen from under $4 to more than $6.
Furthermore, rising inflation has driven up mortgage interest rates, imposing additional costs on households. Zandi estimates that the increase in long-term interest rates alone has cost each household approximately $540.
This financial burden has caused American households to fall behind on their debt payments—with one in five households now in arrears—a situation that, according to new Federal Reserve data, is unprecedented since the Great Recession of 2008.
This report identifies rising living costs and the erosion of citizens’ financial capacity—stemming from the war against Iran—as factors exacerbating this crisis.
The record-high level of U.S. household debt has emerged at a time when the war waged by the U.S. and Israel against Iran, coupled with disruptions to energy transit through the Strait of Hormuz, has placed additional strain on the American economy.
This economic pressure could prove challenging for the Republicans and the Donald Trump administration ahead of the November midterm elections. According to a poll by the Pew Research Center, 65 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with how Trump has handled the war with Iran.
Two days ago, while attempting to justify the exorbitant costs of a war against Iran during a campaign event, Donald Trump claimed that the consequences of the actions taken against Iran represent a “very small cost” for the public to bear.
He reiterated his assertion that a war with Iran would soon conclude and that fuel prices would drop—a promise he has made repeatedly since the very early days of the conflict. However, many media outlets, as well as members of the U.S. House and Senate, believe that the costs of a war with Iran have spiraled beyond Trump’s control, and that it is American citizens who are footing the bill.
Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office has also projected that replenishing U.S. weapons stockpiles—which were depleted during the war—could take at least five years.