Washington DC [US], July 22 (ANI): US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Tuesday (local time) estimated that the cost of the ongoing US conflict with Iran has reached USD 37.5 billion so far, including certain operations and maintenance expenses projected through the end of the current fiscal year.
Hegseth disclosed the figure during a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee while responding to questions from Democratic Senator Dick Durbin.
‘The estimate we have as of today is USD 37.5 billion,’ Hegseth said, adding that the amount included ‘certain aspects of it’ as well as some anticipated military operations and maintenance costs through September 30.
The estimate marks the latest official assessment of the financial impact of the conflict and is around USD 8 billion higher than the USD 29 billion figure previously cited by the Trump administration in May.
In May, Jay Hurst, a senior Pentagon official who is performing the duties of Pentagon Comptroller, informed a House Appropriations Committee hearing that the US military campaign against the Islamic Republic had cost nearly USD 29 billion, revising upward the earlier estimate of USD 25 provided to the US Congress two weeks ago.
‘So, at the time of testimony from [the House Armed Services Committee], it was USD 25 billion, 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. That’s because of updated repair and replacement of equipment costs and also just general operational costs to keep people in theatre,’ Hurst said.
Hurst told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing that the USD 29 billion estimate still does not include the cost of damages sustained by US military bases in the region.
However, experts suggested that the $29 billion estimate is just the US War Department’s lowballing of the expenditure, with overall spending potentially going up to USD 1 trillion.
According to research issued by Harvard Kennedy School, war budgeting expert Linda Bilmes states that she is certain that the cost estimates in the war against Iran can reach upto USD 1 trillion, noting that around USD 2 billion is spent a day in short-term, upfront costs, which, according to her, was just ‘the tip of the iceberg’.
Hegseth appeared before the committee alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine as lawmakers examined the Pentagon’s request for a USD 1.5 trillion defence budget, which includes nearly USD 70 billion related to operations linked to the Iran conflict.
The War Secretary did not provide a detailed breakdown of the costs or specify how much had already been spent on combat operations, logistics, weapons, personnel and other related expenses.
The disclosure came as tensions between Iran and the United States escalated after the collapse of the 14-point MoU, signed last month, aimed at ending the hostilities between the two sides and opening the pathway for further negotiations, particularly on Iran’s nuclear programme and the Strait of Hormuz.
Its collapse renewed the conflict in West Asia, with the US striking Iranian military and civilian assets, and the Islamic Republic also targeting American bases across the Gulf in retaliatory strikes. (ANI)
