The United States' war in Iran has cost $25 billion so far, a senior Pentagon official told Congress on Wednesday, in the first official estimate of the military's expenditure since the conflict began in February.
Jules Hurst, performing the duties of Pentagon comptroller, told the House Armed Services Committee that the bulk of the spending had gone towards munitions. He did not specify whether the figure included the projected costs of rebuilding and repairing base infrastructure in the Middle East damaged during the conflict, leaving the full scope of the estimate unclear. A source had previously told Reuters that the first six days of the war alone cost the United States at least $11.3 billion, raising questions about how the $25 billion total was calculated. For context, the figure is equivalent to NASA's entire budget for this year.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth defended the expenditure before lawmakers, framing it in stark terms. "What would you pay to ensure Iran does not get a nuclear bomb? What would you pay?" he said. Hegseth also went on the offensive against Democratic critics, calling them "reckless, feckless, and defeatist" and accusing them of handing propaganda to enemies by describing the conflict as a quagmire.
The United States launched strikes against Iran on 28 February. A fragile ceasefire is currently in place, though the Pentagon has said it stands ready to resume attacks if ordered by President Donald Trump. Thirteen US troops have been killed in the conflict and hundreds wounded, with tens of thousands of additional forces deployed to the Middle East, including three aircraft carriers kept in the region.
The cost disclosure lands at a politically sensitive moment. With midterm elections six months away, Democrats are seeking to tie the unpopular war to economic pressures weighing on American households. Disruptions to oil and gas shipments since the conflict began have driven up petrol prices, which on Tuesday reached their highest level in nearly four years according to the American Automobile Association, alongside rising costs for agricultural products such as fertilisers. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that just 34% of Americans approve of the conflict with Iran, down from 38% in mid-March.
Source: Reuters