US spending on military operation in Iran exceeds 85 bln dollars

U.S. spending on the military operation in Iran has exceeded $85 bln over 79 days of the hostilities, the Iran War Cost Tracker portal reported.

The portal’s real-time tracker is based on a Pentagon briefing for the U.S. Congress on March 10, during which officials claimed that Washington had spent $11.3 bln during the first six days of military operations in the Middle East and planned to continue spending an additional $1 bln for each subsequent day of the conflict.

According to the resource, the total amount spent is nearly three times higher than the estimate previously cited by acting U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management Jules Hurst. During hearings before the House Appropriations Committee, he stated that Washington had spent around $29 bln on the military operation against Iran.

The U.S. and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28. On April 7, the U.S. president announced a two-week mutual ceasefire with the Islamic Republic. According to Tehran, 3,375 Iranians were killed over 40 days of war as a result of U.S.-Israeli strikes.

On April 11, Tehran and Washington held talks in Islamabad, but the sides failed to reach an agreement on a long-term settlement of the conflict due to a number of disagreements. On April 21, the U.S. leader announced plans to extend the ceasefire regime with Iran. Iranian state television reported that Tehran did not intend to recognize Washington’s unilateral extension of the ceasefire and would act in accordance with its own interests.