Pentagon says U.S. value of Iran battle nearing $29 billion

The Pentagon stated on Tuesday (Might 12, 2026) the price of the battle with Iran had climbed to just about $29 billion, as U.S. President Donald Trump confronted mounting scrutiny over the battle and its affect on U.S. army readiness.

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The determine, revealed throughout a funds listening to on Capitol Hill, is about $4 billion greater than the division’s earlier estimate given two weeks in the past.

Mr. Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine and Pentagon finance chief Jules Hurst III had been requested concerning the battle’s price ticket throughout testimony on the administration’s $1.5 trillion 2027 protection funds request.

“On the time of testimony… it was $25 billion,” Mr. Hurst stated, referring to Mr. Hegseth’s April 29 estimate.

“However the joint workers staff and the comptroller staff are always that estimate, and so now we predict it is nearer to 29,” he stated — citing up to date “restore and alternative of kit prices” and broader operational bills.

Democrats and different critics of the battle have questioned the Pentagon’s calculations, suggesting the true value — together with injury inflicted by Iran — could possibly be far greater.

Pressed on when Congress would obtain a fuller accounting, Mr. Hegseth stated the administration would request “no matter we predict we’d like” individually from the Pentagon funds, with out giving a timeline.

The testimony got here as a fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire appeared more and more shaky, with Mr. Trump warning on Monday (Might 11) that the truce was on “life help” after rejecting Tehran’s newest peace proposal.

Democrats used the listening to to hammer the administration over the ballooning value of the battle and what they described as a scarcity of transparency about U.S. targets.

“The query have to be answered on the finish: what have we achieved and at what value?” requested Rosa DeLauro, the highest Democrat on the Home Appropriations Committee.

Weapons stockpiles

The listening to marked Hegseth’s first look on Capitol Hill because the White Home formally notified Congress that hostilities launched by the US and Israel towards Iran on February 28 had “terminated.”

Democrats, accusing Mr. Trump of waging battle with out congressional authorisation, have repeatedly launched measures to curb his battle powers, solely to be blocked by Republicans.

Democratic Senator Mark Kelly warned on the weekend that inventories of Tomahawk missiles, Patriot interceptors and different superior weapons had been severely drawn down and will take years to replenish.

However Mr. Hegseth dismissed the issues as “foolishly and unhelpfully overstated.”

Mr Hegseth and Mr Caine confronted a second spherical of questioning earlier than a Senate panel following their Home look, and anti-war protesters had been current at each hearings.

Within the Senate, Democrat Patty Murray stated the administration’s value estimate appeared “suspiciously low” as a result of it didn’t account for injury to U.S. services, citing studies that Iran struck no less than 228 constructions or items of kit at army websites.

Virginia Burger, senior Defence Coverage Analyst on the Undertaking On Authorities Oversight, prompt the administration is perhaps understating the battle’s true value by “tens of billions” of {dollars}.

“The one strategy to know what the discrepancy is and what this battle is actually costing taxpayers is that if the Pentagon supplied Congress with an in depth breakdown of the prices,” she stated.

“With out seeing the numbers, we’re compelled to marvel if the Pentagon is participating in mathematical tips and selective inclusion to make the official value estimate as little as doable.”

Mr. Hegseth declined to offer a injury estimate, however argued, as he has repeatedly because the battle started, that the price of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon could be far larger.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly claimed U.S. air strikes “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program final 12 months, regardless of intelligence assessments indicating Tehran was a decade away from growing a missile able to threatening the US.