Pentagon: War in Iran has cost the US $25 billion so far

(Patria) - US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth appeared before Congress for the first time since the start of the war against Iran yesterday to justify the Donald Trump administration's request for a $1.5 trillion defense budget for fiscal year 2027.

Hegseth stated that the president's budget proposal "reflects the urgency of the situation," Al Jazeera reported.

The Pentagon also announced that the war in Iran has so far cost the United States about $25 billion.

Addressing lawmakers, Hegseth defended the White House's request for an increased defense budget, stating that Trump intends to return the US defense industrial base "to a war footing."

He said he "gladly welcomes" the discussion about Iran and reiterated Trump's stance that the United States will not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons and that negotiators are working to reach an agreement.

- The biggest adversaries we currently face are the reckless, ineffective, and defeatist statements of Democrats in Congress - Hegseth said.

When asked how the White House plans to force Iran into a new nuclear deal, Hegseth replied that the US must "bring them to the point where they will sit down at the table and give it up."

He asserted that, although last year's US and Israeli attacks "wiped out" Iranian nuclear facilities, Iran still has "nuclear ambitions" and "a conventional shield of thousands of missiles."

This hearing attracted significant attention as it is the first time the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have appeared before a congressional committee since the US and Israel launched the war against Iran.

It was at this hearing that the first concrete figures on the cost of the conflict were presented.

Pentagon official Jules Hurst pointed out that the war in Iran has so far cost the United States about $25 billion, with the largest portion of that amount related to ammunition expenditure.

Hurst presented the data to members of the House Armed Services Committee, where he testified alongside Secretary of Defense Hegseth.