During the first week of the joint military campaign by the United States and Israel against Iran, American spending has already reached roughly $6 billion, according to a report published by The New York Times on March 8. Despite the scale of the operation, officials in Washington still lack a clear understanding of what the final outcome of the campaign might be.

Members of the U. S. Republican Party, the newspaper reports, expect the White House to soon ask Congress for additional funding to sustain the military effort.

A large share of the current costs-about $4 billion-has been spent on ammunition. Much of that amount went toward interceptor missiles, which have been used to repel Iranian retaliatory strikes.

The publication describes the strike on a facility in Tehran as a reflection of the complicated reality of the war’s opening week. The United States and Israel have carried out an intensive air campaign against a weakened opponent, yet the broader question of what victory would actually look like remains largely unanswered.

According to the newspaper, American and Israeli forces have launched around 4,000 strikes on targets across Iran since the conflict began. The main objectives have included ballistic missile positions, military headquarters, and naval infrastructure.

Even after these large-scale air attacks, Tehran still retains a considerable portion of its military capabilities. During closed briefings in the U. S. Congress, officials indicated that Iran still possesses roughly half of its missile arsenal, along with a substantial number of unmanned aerial vehicles.

The large-scale operation by the United States and Israel began on February 28. Earlier reports in Western media, citing congressional sources, suggested that the Pentagon initially estimated the cost of the campaign at about $1 billion per day. Officials in Washington believe the fighting could continue for four to six weeks.