Iran war to cost US $37.5B by end of September, Hegseth tells Senate

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon estimates the US military's war against Iran will cost roughly $37.5 billion by the end of the current fiscal year, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told members of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday.

That estimate includes military personnel pay and the war campaign's "operations and maintenance" costs through Sept. 30, Hegseth told lawmakers.

The cost marked a steady uptick from the most recent cost estimate of $29 billion, which the Pentagon's acting comptroller Jay Hurst revealed during a Congressional hearing in mid-May.

Hegseth's testimony on Tuesday, issued alongside the US military's top ranking officer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, came as the Pentagon seeks more than $67 billion worth of supplemental funding to cover the costs of the war unanticipated by this year's Department of Defense budget.

"This funding is about making sure that we and our allies can operate in the Strait of Hormuz... and that we force Iran to meet our objectives," Hegseth said during the hearing on Tuesday.

“This is a new request based on new realities of a world we face, stepping up to meet that moment,” Hegseth later said during an exchange with Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.).

The Pentagon’s $37.5 billion cost estimate did not include anticipated costs to repair basing and facilities destroyed in the war, a person familiar with the analysis said.

The US Navy reimposed its blockade of Iran's ports last week following a spate of drone attacks on commercial shipping which the Trump administration blamed on Iran's IRGC.

US President Donald Trump and the Pentagon's top two officials each signaled an open-ended campaign in their separate public comments about the war on Tuesday, even as both Washington and Tehran have hinted at openness to resuming peace talks.

In a tense exchange with Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) about the current contest for control of the Strait of Hormuz, Caine indicated that Iran’s continued military ability to threaten ships will require open-ended US military readiness in the strategic waterway for the foreseeable future.

Later in the hearing, Caine told Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) that he did not know whether the requested $67 billion would be enough to achieve Washington’s objectives in the war.

“I can't answer the question on what it will cost because the enemy has a vote,” Caine replied.

“Because I'm not quite sure how this is going to play out yet, it would be unwise for me to comment on what a future cost may or may not be,” the top general added.

Speaking in the Oval Office alongside Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun earlier on Tuesday, Trump said his administration did not "have it on the record" that Iran had stored centrifuges at the nuclear facility at Pickaxe Mountain, but said the US would soon strike the underground facility "very powerfully.” Trump also said the US would likely respond if the Houthis attempt to close the Bab al-Mandeb.

"If something like that happens, we take care of it," Trump told reporters on Tuesday. "We've done that with the Houthis before," he added.