US war in Iran has cost $A53 billion so far: Pentagon
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US war in Iran has cost $37.5 billion ($53.4 billion) so far; This is an increase of nearly $8 billion since the last public estimate.
Hegseth told politicians at a hearing in Washington that the figure included certain aspects of the war as well as expected costs through Sept. 30.
It was unclear how the Pentagon arrived at the $37.5 billion figure. President Donald Trump’s administration estimated that the first six days of the war cost at least US$11.3 billion, a source told Reuters in March.
Hegseth also told politicians that military training should be shortened without immediate funding support.
This was the first time Hegseth, who appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, has faced public questions from politicians since the U.S. military resumed operations against Iran earlier this month.
With just six months to go before midterm elections in which Trump’s Republicans may face an uphill battle to retain their House majority, Democrats are riding high in opinion polls as they try to link affordability to the unpopular Iran war.
The fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran collapsed earlier this month, and both sides are launching daily attacks on each other.
The number of US soldiers killed in the war against Iran rose to 17 over the weekend as authorities examined the remains of another soldier missing following an attack on a base in Jordan. It has been confirmed that two of the 17 people were killed when Iran attacked US personnel in Jordan.
Approximately 430 US soldiers have been injured so far in the clashes that started in late February. The Pentagon said Monday that 100 soldiers have been injured since July 7, but 96 percent have returned to duty. It was unclear how many of them were included in the 430 number in the Pentagon’s public database.
Last week, Trump threatened to expand the scope of targets hit in Iran to include power plants and bridges, send ground forces to seize Iran’s Kharg Island oil hub and bomb a deep underground nuclear-related site known as Kazma Mountain.
On Tuesday, Trump said the United States would remove the mountain facility “very soon.”
