The U.S. conflict in the Middle East has sent more than 50,000 service members into combat since February.
By Kunle Falayi
Six-and-a-half months after the United States and Israel launched a joint military campaign against Iran, the U.S. has lost 18 military personnel. The cost in assets and money continues to climb.
The war has become the largest American combat operation in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The human and financial toll is still being tallied, contested, and revised.
By its own account, the Pentagon's opening 10-day campaign struck more than 5,000 targets and damaged or destroyed 50 Iranian naval vessels. Between February 28 and April 7, the U.S. conducted 36,000 combat sorties and more than 1,800 fire missions in Iran, according to a Department of Defense Inspector General report to Congress.
The U.S. deployed more than 50,000 service members in support of the war, including the carrier strike groups USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R. Ford, according to a report by the Department of Defense. The Ford returned to Norfolk Naval Station on May 16, 2026, after a historic 326-day deployment.
As of September 18, 2026, U.S. military deaths in Operation Epic Fury stand at 19, according to data from the Defense Casualty Analysis System. Five of the casualties were active-duty military personnel, three were members of the National Guard, and six were Army reserve soldiers. Four more U.S. military personnel died in overseas operations related to the war.
Iranian and regional casualty figures vary widely by source. As of June 9, 2026, the World Health Organization’s Global Situation Report estimates the Iranian death toll to be about 3,400, with more than 34,000 injured. The National Iranian American Council estimated in July that Iranian civilian casualties in the first 40 days could be up to 2,362 but said an internet blackout in parts of the country, as well as restricted journalist access, have all complicated independent verification. The council also estimated that between 254 to 376 children were among the dead, while over 26,500 people were injured in that period. A Virginia-based monitor, Human Rights Activists in Iran, documented 3,636 deaths by early April, including 1,701 named civilians, 254 of whom were children.
In addition to the human losses in the conflict, the U.S. has incurred mounting costs. Estimates have varied.
According to Harvard University Professor Linda Bilmes, the war is costing U.S. taxpayers $2 billion every day and may reach a total cost of $1 trillion. She co-wrote a book in 2010 in which she estimated the cost of the Iraq war at $3 trillion.
The Department of Defense estimates war costs had reached $33.4 billion at the end of June. This included $7.4 billion cumulative obligations for the war, $22.3 billion for expended munitions and $3.7 billion in equipment losses.
A report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says the war has directly cost U.S. taxpayers nearly $40 billion.
Between 2001 and 2003, the Department of Defense spent a total of $35.1 billion on Operation Enduring Freedom, according to a Congressional Research Service report. The department did not provide a breakdown of its cost by operation.
Reach Kunle Falayi at kunle.falayi@whro.org.