The UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia estimates that the Iran war has inflicted $63 billion in economic losses across the Arab region in its first two weeks. If the conflict continues for a month, ESCWA projects losses could reach $150 billion — roughly 3.7 percent of regional GDP. The damage spans energy markets, trade routes, aviation, and tourism. [1]

On the American side, the numbers are larger and less transparent. The Pentagon informed Congress that the first six days of the war cost $11.3 billion. By day twelve, the estimate had risen to $16.5 billion. The Washington Post reported on March 18 that the Pentagon has asked the White House to approve a supplemental budget request exceeding $200 billion — emergency war funding outside the normal $886 billion defense budget. [2]

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the figure was in motion. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have expressed concern about the scale of the request for a war that lacks formal congressional authorization. The American Progress Center estimated the war could reach $25 billion in costs by the end of this week alone. [3]

The price tag grows daily. The authorization does not exist. The accounting arrives after the money is spent. This is the fiscal architecture of a war fought on executive assertion. [4]

-- Hendrik Van Der Berg, Brussels