Here's how much the Iran war cost -- and how its effects will linger

(NPR) As conflicts go, the Iran war, should a loose framework and ceasefire deal hold, was relatively short in duration. But its costs and aftereffects will likely linger for years.

The months-long conflict, which pitted the world's most powerful military against a far weaker, yet strategically adept, adversary cost the lives of 13 U.S. service members and more than 3,300 Iranians, according to state media. Another 3,826 have been killed in Lebanon, nearly 60 in Israel and dozens across Gulf states, according to authorities in those countries.

It also led to higher oil prices and spiked inflation and mortgage rates in the U.S. -- and made the job of incoming Federal Reserve chief Kevin Warsh more complicated. And it roiled global energy markets, paralyzed a key waterway, led to fuel rationing in countries in Asia and Africa, disrupted supply chains of everything from semiconductors to fertilizers, while hitting the economies of key Middle East nations particularly hard.

https://www.npr.org/2026/06/17/nx-s1-5860739/iran-war-cost-oil-military-trade