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US defence chief Hegseth puts Iran war cost at $37.5bn so far

Al Jazeera · back to the audit

United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has put the latest official price tag on the US-Israel war on Iran at $37.5bn.

"The estimate we have as of today is $37.5bn," Hegseth said upon questioning from Democratic Senator Dick Durbin. Hegseth added that the price includes some operations and maintenance costs extending through the end of September, but did not provide specifics.

Still, the number is significantly lower than other estimates, especially those that include knock-on expenses for US consumers. For instance, Moody's Analytics has estimated the domestic cost of the war to be up to $150bn, accounting for factors such as higher US energy prices.

Democratic Senator Patty Murray questioned the sprawling budget request, which also included funding requests for the National Guard deployment in Washington, DC, US operations against alleged drug smugglers in the Caribbean, and military patrols of the US border. "So I'll be blunt," she said. "The truth is, your request does not make a lot of sense."

The latest quote is about $8bn higher than the previous figure released by the administration of $29bn in May.