WASHINGTON, United States: The Pentagon said on Tuesday the cost of the war with Iran had climbed to nearly $29 billion, as President Donald Trump faced mounting scrutiny over the conflict and its impact on military readiness.
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 testimony... it was $25 billion,” Hurst told lawmakers, referring to Hegseth´s April 29 estimate.
“But the joint staff team and the comptroller team are constantly looking at that estimate, and so now we think it´s closer to 29,” he said -- citing updated “repair and replacement of equipment costs” and broader operational expenses.
Pressed on when Congress would receive a fuller accounting of the war´s costs, Hegseth said the administration would request “whatever we think we need” separately from the main Pentagon budget, but did not say when that supplemental request would arrive.
