The long-running confrontation between the US and Iran entered a new phase on Saturday when joint US-Israeli air strikes targeted Iran, marking a moment of open military hostilities.<\/p>\n
As US President Donald Trump signals that operations could last four to five weeks, we look at whether Washington can sustain a new war in the Middle East, and what it might ultimately cost.<\/p>\n
What is Operation Epic Fury?<\/h2>\n
On February 28, Trump confirmed in an eight-minute video posted on Truth Social that the US had taken part in what he described as a \u201cmajor combat operation\u201d inside Iran.<\/p>\n
The Pentagon later said the mission was named Operation Epic Fury.<\/p>\n
Trump said the objective was to \u201censure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally obliterated,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The US military said that it had struck more than 1,250 targets in Iran since operations started on Saturday. In a separate statement, the US military\u2019s Central Command (CENTCOM) said it had struck and destroyed 11 Iranian ships.<\/p>\n
The operation reportedly involved air strikes, sea-launched cruise missiles and coordinated attacks on nuclear-related facilities, as well as on senior figures linked to Iran\u2019s defence establishment.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had led the country since 1989, was killed when his Tehran compound was struck and heavily damaged in the first wave of US-Israeli strikes.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Trump promised to pursue the war for as long as necessary, suggesting it could extend over several weeks. As of Monday, the Iranian Red Crescent said that 555 people had been killed across 130 locations in Iran.<\/p>\n
How much has the US already spent in Israel and the Middle East since 2023?<\/h2>\n
According to Brown University\u2019s 2025\u00a0Costs of War report<\/a>, since October 7, 2023, the US has provided Israel with some $21.7bn in military aid.<\/p>\n In addition to that, the American taxpayer has funded US operations in support of Israel in Yemen, Iran and the wider Middle East at a cost of $9.65bn to $12.07bn.<\/p>\n That brings total US spending connected to the conflict to between $31.35bn and $33.77bn, and counting.<\/p>\n According to CENTCOM, Operation Epic Fury has involved more than 20 weapons systems across air, sea, land and missile defence forces.<\/p>\n CENTCOM says more than 1,000 targets inside Iran have been struck, using more than 20 different systems across the air, sea and land, as well as the missile defence force.<\/p>\n \u201cThe focus of the United States and Israelis now is to blunt or degrade \u2013 as quickly as they can \u2013 the offensive capabilities of the Iranians to keep wreaking havoc. You want to stop these attacks, or at least diminish them as much as you can,\u201d Kevin Donegan, a former CENTCOM operations director, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n Some of the weapons systems include:<\/p>\n The campaign has relied heavily on US air assets, including:<\/p>\n Unmanned systems and rocket artillery are also part of the operation:<\/p>\n Predicting the total cost of an ongoing military campaign is difficult. According to experts, it is too early to say how much the new war might end up costing the US.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Pentagon has not published that information, and so we can only speculate\u2026, but there\u2019s a lot of moving pieces, and we can speculate on the cost of the individual weapons; we can speculate on the cost of the operations, the naval operations,\u201d Christopher Preble, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n Reports by the Anadolou news agency estimate<\/a> that the US may have spent roughly $779m during the first 24 hours of Operation Epic Fury.<\/p>\nWhich weapons systems are being used in the Iran war?<\/h2>\n
Air Power:<\/h3>\n
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Drones and long-range strike systems<\/h3>\n
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Missile defence systems<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nNaval power projection<\/h3>\n
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How much could the Iran war cost the US?<\/h2>\n
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