For the first time since the war in Iran began, which has now lasted two months and remains in an unstable ceasefire, the Pentagon on Wednesday gave an official estimated figure of the cost of the conflict to taxpayers to date: 25 billion dollars. Pentagon Comptroller Jay Hurst explained at a congressional hearing that most of this money corresponds to the tens of thousands of bombs and missiles used, although the military has also invested money in carrying out operations and replenishing equipment.
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The figure, however, is preliminary. “We will formulate a supplement through the White House that will reach Congress once we have a complete assessment of the cost of the conflict,” Hurst emphasized. The legislature is the power responsible for approving budgets and authorizing the use of military force, as well as declaring wars; however, it was never consulted before the start of the joint military operation with Israel in the Middle East and had to wait two months to receive an estimated figure on its cost.
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The figure offered by the Pentagon differs from estimates by independent analysts and think tanks, such as the American Enterprise Institute, which had estimated an approximate cost of 1 billion dollars per day (which would now be around 60 billion). The Administration has not yet detailed the different items for which it estimates that 25 billion has been spent.
Hurst gave the figure during the first appearance of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth before Congress since the war began. The reason for his hearing, in the House Armed Services Committee, was to defend his new military budget proposal for fiscal year 2027, with which he intends to raise defense spending to a historic high of 1.5 trillion dollars, 40% more than the current budget. However, the war in Iran monopolized the questioning.
“The biggest challenge, the biggest adversary we face right now are the reckless, irresponsible, and defeatist words of Democrats in Congress and some Republicans,” said the Pentagon chief, denouncing the lack of unity in Congress over the conflict. The Republican justified the so-called Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28, by the need to end Iran’s nuclear program, despite the International Atomic Energy Agency having found that it only had civilian objectives.
Hegseth justifies the war by the need to destroy the “nuclear ambition,” although they already destroyed the “nuclear facilities”
Later, Hegseth stated that “Iran’s nuclear facilities were completely destroyed” in Operation Midnight Hammer, the summer bombing last year of its three main nuclear bases, in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. Congressman Adam Smith, the highest-ranking Democrat on the committee, pointed out that this is a contradiction: “You just said we had to start this war 60 days ago because the nuclear weapon was an imminent threat. Now you say it was completely destroyed?”
“They had not given up their nuclear ambitions and had a conventional shield of thousands of missiles,” Hegseth replied. “It is North Korea’s strategy: use conventional missiles to prevent anyone from challenging them and thus be able to slowly advance toward a weapon. President Trump saw Iran at its weakest moment and took a measure to ensure, in a way only the U.S. could, that its conventional shield was brought to the battlefield.”
“Where does all this lead? What is the plan to achieve our objectives? We have seen the cost, and the cost is very, very high,” Smith asked, minutes before Hurst gave the official Pentagon figure.
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Beside Hegseth, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, General Dan Caine, celebrated that the Iranian army is now “weaker and less capable than in decades,” referring to the arsenal destroyed by Washington’s bombings, although he recently stated that “Tehran retains thousands of missiles and single-use attack drones.”
During a tense interrogation, lawmakers took the opportunity to criticize a military offensive that is depleting the U.S. arsenal, has destabilized the region, and has caused a historic energy crisis (Brent crude traded today at 115 dollars, the highest price since 2022).
While Hegseth responded, the noise of dozens of protesters could be heard outside the room, inside the Capitol, some with signs calling the Pentagon chief a “war criminal.” This issue translated into questions from lawmakers about the school bombed in southern Iran in the early days of the offensive, where it is estimated that more than 100 girls died.
Democrats have insisted that the war is not even legal, since the legislature, the power responsible for declaring wars and authorizing the use of force, was not consulted before the joint aggression with Israel. However, every time they have tried to pass a resolution reaffirming their war powers to limit future attacks, Republicans have blocked it, remaining united around Trump’s figure, despite the president having promised the people he would not enter any conflict.
Democrats denounce that the war is illegal because Congress was not consulted and that the objectives are not being met
The war has served to reveal some vulnerabilities of the Pentagon, which, despite its unquestionable military superiority, has had difficulties shooting down Iranian drone swarms, valued at just a few thousand dollars, with its multimillion-dollar Patriot or Thaad ballistic missiles, among others, which have an individual cost of millions of dollars.
It has also shown that the military route is not enough to meet the declared objectives: the Iranian regime remains standing and has not given up the nuclear program nor handed over its enriched uranium, its allied militias maintain the capacity to attack Israel and U.S. bases, and the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked to the passage of tankers and other merchant ships.
Since the war began, Hegseth has held five press conferences, although he has mainly answered questions from conservative media. In his interventions, he has harshly criticized the press for questioning the illegal war, which he justifies as a divine duty, and has cited the Bible to compare journalists to “Pharisees.” This Wednesday, he continues answering lawmakers’ direct questions under oath, from which he cannot escape so easily.
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