Iran war increasing inflation, straining US munitions: congressional report

Report by nonpartisan research body finds that replenishing depleted munitions stockpiles could take up to five years.

The Pentagon is seen from the air in Washington, DC, on July 15, 2026 [File: Alex Brandon/AP]

The US war on Iran is worsening inflation and straining the country’s munitions stockpiles, a report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has found.

The report, released on Tuesday, found that the cost of the six-month war has reached $38bn and is expected to rise by $3bn per month. The war is projected to increase inflation by 0.5 percentage points in the first three months of 2027.

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“Donald Trump’s disastrous war in Iran has already taken the lives of brave American servicemembers and left others wounded,” Brendan Boyle, a top Democrat on the US House of Representatives Budget Committee who requested the study, said in a statement.

“Beyond that human toll, this nonpartisan CBO report makes clear that the war has also cost American taxpayers tens of billions of dollars and counting, while continuing to drive up costs.”

The report comes as the Trump administration faces growing criticism over the unpopular war, launched by the US and Israel in February. The conflict has caused disruptions to the global energy market and contributed to rising prices as voters express concern over the cost of living ahead of the November midterm elections .

The CBO estimate is in line with those offered by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth during congressional testimony in July, during which he placed the cost of the war at $37.5bn. Hegseth urged Congress to approve a dramatic increase in the US military budget, already the largest in the world by a significant margin.

The Pentagon chief also slammed critics of the war during the heated testimony, denying that the conflict, which Trump initially estimated would last several weeks, was turning into a “quagmire”.

Reports have also found that the war has exhausted US supplies of key munitions, stretching the military’s ability to fulfil commitments in other parts of the world. The CBO report estimated that it could take up to five years to replenish US munitions stockpiles.

The report does not include borrowing costs associated with the war or Iranian attacks that have hammered US military installations in the Middle East.

The Trump administration has angrily denied reports on flagging munitions stockpiles and continued to argue that the war is worth the cost.

“With the temporary exception of Oil, prices are coming down sharply, and Oil will drop like a rock as soon as the Military Conflict with Iran is over, and that will not be long,” Trump said in a social media post on Monday.

The CBO read-out comes one day after a report on the war compiled by inspectors general at the Pentagon, a government watchdog, detailed munitions shortfalls and production bottlenecks, along with the loss of dozens of US aircraft during the war.

“We have everything required to strike at the time and place of the president’s choosing,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said after reports of munitions shortfalls.

一份由无党派研究机构发布的报告显示，补充耗尽的弹药库存可能需要长达五年的时间。

2026年7月15日，从空中拍摄的华盛顿特区五角大楼[图片：Alex Brandon/AP]

无党派的国会预算办公室 (CBO) 的一份报告发现，美国对伊朗的战争加剧了通货膨胀，并使该国的军火储备捉襟见肘。

周二发布的这份报告显示，这场持续六个月的战争已耗资380亿美元，预计每月还将增加30亿美元。报告预测，这场战争将使2027年前三个月的通货膨胀率上升0.5个百分点。

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“唐纳德·特朗普在伊朗发动的灾难性战争已经夺去了勇敢的美国军人的生命，并造成其他人受伤，”要求进行这项研究的美国众议院预算委员会高级民主党议员布伦丹·博伊尔在一份声明中说。

“除了人员伤亡之外，这份不偏不倚的国会预算办公室报告还明确指出，这场战争已经耗费了美国纳税人数百亿美元，而且成本还在不断上涨。”

这份报告发布之际，正值特朗普政府因美以于2月份发动的这场不得人心的战争而面临越来越多的批评。这场冲突扰乱了全球能源市场，并导致物价上涨，因为选民们在11月中期选举前对生活成本表示担忧。

国会预算办公室的估算与国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯7月在国会作证时给出的估算一致，当时他估计战争成本为375亿美元。赫格塞斯敦促国会批准大幅增加美国军费预算，而美国的军费预算已经远超其他国家。

在激烈的作证过程中，五角大楼负责人还抨击了战争的批评者，否认这场冲突（特朗普最初估计这场冲突将持续数周）正在变成一场“泥潭”。

报告还指出，战争已耗尽美国关键弹药的储备，削弱了美军在世界其他地区履行军事承诺的能力。国会预算办公室的报告估计，补充美国弹药库存可能需要长达五年的时间。

该报告不包括与战争或伊朗袭击美国在中东的军事设施相关的借贷成本。

特朗普政府愤怒地否认了有关军火库存告急的报道，并继续辩称这场战争值得付出这样的代价。

特朗普周一在社交媒体上发帖称：“除了石油之外，其他物价都在急剧下降，一旦与伊朗的军事冲突结束，石油价格就会像石头一样暴跌，而那一天不会太长。”

国会预算办公室发布这份报告的前一天，五角大楼监察长（政府监督机构）编写了一份关于这场战争的报告，详细列出了弹药短缺和生产瓶颈，以及战争期间数十架美国飞机的损失。

五角大楼发言人肖恩·帕内尔在有关弹药短缺的报道出现后表示：“我们拥有在总统选择的时间和地点发动打击所需的一切。”