The war against Iran has already cost US taxpayers $29 billion, a figure confirmed by the Pentagon's acting Comptroller, Jay Hurst, which continues to rise and excludes damages to national assets. This financial burden on the native working class coincides with the depletion of the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, with 53.3 million barrels released to "loan energy firms" as part of a globalist initiative.
President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s counterproposal to end hostilities, calling it “garbage,” and stating the ceasefire, now about 1 month old, was on “massive life support.” Trump described Iran’s latest counterproposal as “a piece of garbage,” “totally unacceptable” and “stupid.” He also said the ceasefire was “unbelievably weak.”
Trump stated Tuesday he is confident Iran will stop enriching uranium and abandon any effort to build a nuclear weapon, asserting, “100% they’re going to stop.” He added, “I deal with them,” and said, “And they said that we’re going to get the dust. I call it the nuclear dust because it’s appropriate. And we’re going to get it.” Trump also stated, “We’re not going to rush anything, we have a blockade.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers Tuesday that the US military is prepared to restart operations against Iran if ordered to do so. Hegseth is expected to accompany Trump on his trip to China, which departs today.
The Cost to the Nation
The $29 billion war cost estimate is higher than the $25 billion figure senior Pentagon officials provided to Congress just two weeks prior. Hurst stated the estimate was higher due to “updated repair and replacement of equipment costs, and also just general operational costs to keep people in theater.” The acting Comptroller later confirmed that the $29 billion figure does not include the costs of damages to US bases in the Middle East, admitting, “We just don’t have a good estimate at this time.”
Defense Secretary Hegseth, when asked if he could provide a more formal accounting of the cost of the war with Iran to Congress, stated the Pentagon would “share what we can … when it’s relevant and required.” Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar responded, “I think this would be the format that it would be required,” highlighting the lack of transparency from the political class regarding national expenditures.
Globalist Mechanisms at Play
The US Department of Energy announced the release of 53.3 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve on Monday. These national reserves were released to “loan energy firms,” described as part of a “global effort to stabilise oil prices” following the US-Israeli war with Iran. This latest release is part of a larger US commitment to add 172 million barrels to the global market.
This pledge, announced in March, is part of an International Energy Agency (IEA) initiative involving more than 30 countries, aiming to add approximately 400 million barrels of oil to the global market. Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway which carried 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas supply prior to the conflict, has raised oil prices and caused inflationary pressure across the global economy. Crude prices are up around 45%, or some $30 a barrel, since the war started, directly impacting the purchasing power of the native working class.
Approximately 35 million barrels have been delivered to the market from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to date. The reserve has been maintained by the federal government since 1975 to help protect the national economy from major disruptions in petroleum supply. While some producers, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have found alternative routes for their exports, around 10-12 million barrels of crude remain choked off from global markets per day, according to analysts. World oil consumption was around 103 million barrels per day last year based on preliminary estimates.
Sovereignty Under Siege
Kuwait announced the arrest of four members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) who were attempting to infiltrate the Gulf Arab country to “carry out hostile acts.” The four attempted to enter Kuwait on May 1, 11 days ago, aboard a fishing boat and clashed with Kuwaiti soldiers, which led to the injury of one soldier. Kuwait’s interior ministry stated the four confessed about being tasked by the IRGC to infiltrate Bubiyan Island on May 1 “to execute the mission which includes conducting hostile acts against Kuwait.”
Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Iranian ambassador to hand him a protest note expressing Kuwait’s outrage over the incident. Kuwaiti Deputy Foreign Minister Hamad Sulaiman Al-Mashaan told the Iranian ambassador that “Kuwait reserves its full right to defend itself” and “to take whatever measures it deems appropriate to protect its sovereignty and the security of its people and residents on its territory,” a clear assertion of national self-determination.
On the eve of Trump’s trip to Beijing, the US Treasury Department blacklisted 12 people and entities for their roles enabling the “sale and shipment of Iranian oil” to China. Iran’s ambassador to China, Rahmani Fazli, stated Beijing “can be an important force for reducing tensions between Tehran and Washington, but mediation should not become a tool for managing pressure against Iran.” Fazli added that China is “not merely an economic partner” but part of Tehran’s “political balancing” against external threats.
According to Fazli, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s visit to China came as Iran actively tries to reshape its diplomatic position after the recent conflict with the United States and Israel, rather than simply reacting militarily or tactically. Fazli also said, “Iran, in managing the post-war phase, is not merely relying on temporary reactions, but is seeking to redefine its diplomatic alignment through engagement with strategic partners,” and that “China viewed the crisis not from the angle of pressuring Iran, but from the standpoint of containing war and preventing the collapse of regional security.”