CBO: Iran War Has Cost $38.1 Billion, Is Driving Up Inflation and Borrowing Costs

The Congressional Budget Office released a report Tuesday, September 15, 2026, finding the US-Israel war with Iran, launched February 28, has directly cost the United States $38.1 billion through August 1 and continues to cost roughly $2-3 billion per month, with more than half the total ($21.7 billion) spent replacing munitions — including $13.1 billion in missile-defense interceptors CBO estimates will take five years for the Pentagon to fully replace. CBO attributed more than 40% of US inflation during the second quarter of 2026 to the war and projected it will add roughly half a percentage point to inflation in the first quarter of 2027, also pushing up borrowing costs; the report noted the average 30-year mortgage rate, under 6% before the war began, stood at 7.22% on the day of the report. The findings add a nonpartisan cost estimate to a war Trump has repeatedly predicted will end 'right after the midterms, maybe before,' and follow the administration's own August acknowledgment that it is 'not in a hurry' to resume talks with Tehran.