Top Trump adviser says Iran war price tag at $12bn so far

Pressure grows on the US president’s administration as war costs spiral and the mission’s endgame remains unclear.

The United States has spent $12bn on its war against Iran since launching joint strikes on the country with Israel on February 28, Trump’s top economic adviser said, as domestic concerns grow over the Middle East conflict’s burgeoning economic impacts.

Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, gave the figure on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday saying it is the latest he’s been briefed on so far.

He was forced to clarify mid-interview after initially appearing to present it as a projected total for the entire war. CBS anchor Margaret Brennan noted more than $5bn in munitions alone was spent in the first week, a challenge Hassett did not directly address.

Hassett was nonetheless dismissive of the war’s economic threat to the US. Financial markets pricing future energy contracts, he said, were already anticipating a swift resolution and sharply lower energy prices, contradicting consumer alarm in the US over rising fuel costs at petrol stations.

Markets remain jittery after Iranian threats to the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil supplies traverse.