Iran war cost increases to $47 billion

The cost of the U.S.’s war against Iran has gone up to $47 billion, an increase of more than $3 billion since last month , as President Trump mulls launching strikes against the Islamic Republic after the U.S. midterm elections.

The biggest chunk of the cost is munition replacement at $29 billion, according to an Oct. 16 U.S. Central Command (Centcom) estimate, which was shared with Congress and obtained by The Hill on Tuesday.

Nearly $12 billion is obligated for incremental costs of military action and another $6.1 billion to replace equipment losses, according to the estimate. Air Force’s support for deployed personnel, airlift, base, communication support and transportation in theater costs $7.6 billion.

The estimate does not include the cost to damaged U.S. military bases in the Middle East.

The new figure is an update from early September, when the Pentagon said the cost of the conflict, which has gone down in popularity since breaking out in February, was about $43.6 billion.

The estimate also comes as Centcom has drawn up plans to conduct follow-up strikes against Iran if there’s authorization from the White House, The Hill previously reported . The U.S. has a number of strike options in place.

Trump said on Tuesday during his rally in Corpus Christi, Texas, that the U.S. is “making an absolute fortune because of the situation” in the Middle East and predicted that the Iran war would “end very soon.”

The conflict has cost the average American household $2,000 so far, according to Moody’s Analytics.