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What the Iran War Is Costing America and Israel

Simon Whistler · March 25, 2026 · 16 min video · Middle East

0:00Locked:2:00–15:47

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What this episode covers

The war with Iran is imposing steep military, political, diplomatic, and reputational costs on both Washington and Jerusalem, from strained Gulf alliances and European backlash to growing domestic opposition in the United States.

Chapters

  1. Dollar Costs and Middle East FuryIn the free preview
  2. Transatlantic Ties Fray as Beijing GainsInsiders
  3. Domestic Fallout and an Unpopular WarInsiders

From the transcript

If there's one thing decades of American intervention in the Middle East has taught us is that war is expensive. According to the costs of war project at Brown University, for example, Washington spent about $2.26 trillion financing its Afghanistan adventure. And, well, we are all about that now, don't we?

While the current war with Iran is nowhere near the trillion dollar figure, it's still remarkably expensive, with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS, estimating that the war has cost the US about $16.5 billion by day 12.

By the time this video goes out, the war will be on its 24th day, and while we don't have up to the minute figures, the one thing we can guarantee is that the costs will continue to climb. In fact, the Pentagon recently requested $200 billion to continue waging the war.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

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