US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on July 22 gave an estimated cost of the war with Iran to date of $37.5 billion at a tense hearing, where he told congressmen that the US administration needs nearly double that amount, more than $70 billion, to continue military operations in the coming months.
Mr. Hegseth's new estimate, given at the hearing of the Senate Budget Committee, has increased compared to the figure of about 30 billion USD submitted to parliamentarians earlier this month and much higher than the 25 billion USD that Pentagon officials put forward at the end of April. The Department of War is proposing Congress to allocate an additional 67 billion USD in funding.
The total internal cost of the Department of War for the war to date ranges from 80 to 100 billion USD, including the cost of repairing damaged US military bases, replacing destroyed aircraft and fully equipping the US military with weapons, according to 3 US officials.
According to information from the Pentagon, the figures, which have not been updated since April, already include the cost of ammunition replenishment but do not include the cost of rebuilding bases, AFP reported.
Mr. Hegseth said his estimates include salaries, operating expenses, maintenance and other "expected" expenses until the end of the budget year. He appeared before parliamentarians amid escalating war in Iran after the April ceasefire agreement broke down.
