Iran‘s foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, posted on X, claiming that the Pentagon’s reported $200 billion budget request for the ongoing conflict is just the “tip of the iceberg.” He warned Americans about a looming “trillion-dollar ‘Israel First tax'” that he says is coming for the U.S. economy.
According to The Economic Times, Araghchi directly stated in his post on X, “This $200b is the tip of the iceberg. Ordinary Americans can thank Benjamin Netanyahu and his lackeys in Congress for the trillion-dollar ‘Israel First tax’ that’s about to hit the U.S. economy.” He also shared a report suggesting that the nation is only three weeks into this “war of choice,” which he believes is being imposed on both Iranians and Americans.
The $200 billion figure comes from an exclusive report that said the Pentagon has asked the White House to approve this request to Congress to fund the war in Iran. This sum would far surpass the costs of the administration’s airstrike campaign so far. The plan is to urgently increase the production of weapons that U.S. and Israeli forces have been using to strike thousands of targets over the past three weeks.
Trump is weighing ground troops and a risky island operation as the Iran war expands
On the U.S. side, President Trump is reportedly considering deploying thousands of U.S. ground troops to the Middle East to reinforce operations and give him more options for strikes over Iran. One key reason for this potential deployment is to secure safe passage for oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a mission that would primarily involve air and naval forces.
Sources say that securing the Strait could even mean placing U.S. troops on Iran’s shoreline. The Trump administration has discussed sending ground forces to Iran’s Kharg Island, which handles 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports and has already been hit by airstrikes.
As the conflict grows, how Iran’s energy chokehold triggered U.S. military escalation offers important context on what’s driving these decisions. However, one official noted that such an operation would be very risky, given Iran’s ability to reach the island with missiles and drones.
President Trump has been vocal about the situation, warning about the possibility of “finishing off what’s left of the Iranian Terror State.” He posted on social media, “I wonder what would happen if we ‘finished off’ what’s left of the Iranian Terror State, and let the Countries that use it, we don’t, be responsible for the so called ‘Straight?’ That would get some of our non-responsive ‘Allies’ in gear, and fast!!!”
Reports have also emerged that Trump threatened to destroy the world’s largest gas field as the Iran war continues to spiral. Trump also lashed out at NATO, accusing most member states of refusing to back Washington’s ongoing military operation against Iran, despite apparently supporting its broader objective. He called NATO a “one way street,” adding, “We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need.”
The combination of Iran’s foreign minister directly addressing American voters about war costs, and Trump’s increasingly aggressive posture toward both Iran and NATO allies points to a conflict that is growing in both scope and cost with no clear end in sight.
Published: Mar 19, 2026 02:55 pm