WASHINGTON: The United States’ military operations against Iran have cost about $29 billion so far, a senior Pentagon official told lawmakers on Tuesday, marking a $4 billion increase from estimates provided less than two weeks ago.
The updated figure was disclosed during testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defence by senior Pentagon officials, including Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine, and Pentagon comptroller official Jules Hurst III.
The new figure, revealed by the Defense Department during a budget hearing on Capitol Hill, is about $4 billion higher than the estimate offered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth two weeks ago.
Hegseth and General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were testifying on a $1.5 trillion budget request for 2027 alongside Pentagon finance chief Jules Hurst III when they were asked for an update on the war’s price tag.
“At the time of the testimony, the estimate stood at $25 billion,” Hurst told lawmakers, referring to Hegseth’s April 29 assessment. “However, the joint staff team and the comptroller have continued reviewing the figures, and we now believe the cost is closer to $29 billion.”
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