The war in Iran has cost $25 billion so far, according to the Pentagon

“It is the most accurate figure that the Trump administration has put forward regarding an operation that, despite a recent ceasefire, does not seem to have an end in sight,” observes the site Politico. The Pentagon’s financial controller, Jules Hurst, stated on April 29 during a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee that the war in Iran has cost around $25 billion (approximately 21.3 billion euros).

As noted by The Hill, on March 10th, the Pentagon revealed in a closed-door meeting that the first six days of the war had cost over $11.3 billion (9.6 billion euros). Most of these expenses are related to ammunition, as specified by Jules Hurst before the committee.

Since February 28th, the American media emphasizes, the military has used “large quantities of strategic ammunition, including Tomahawk missiles and Patriot interceptor missiles, significantly depleting the Pentagon’s reserves.” In March, The Hill reported that the Pentagon had spent $5.6 billion (4.8 billion euros) on ammunition in the first two days of the conflict.

Thousands of missiles launched

Last week, The New York Times reported that the U.S. military had launched over 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles since the end of February, “about ten times the number it currently purchases annually,” over 1,200 Patriot interceptor missiles, “each costing more than $4 million [3.4 million euros],” and over 1,000 Precision Strike and ATACMS land missiles.

The $25 billion figure communicated by the Pentagon appears “significantly lower than many external estimates, given the frantic pace of aerial and naval operations and the costs associated with resupplying air defense systems,” according to Politico, which highlights that administration officials are “considering a request for additional credits of up to $200 billion (171 billion euros) to finance the conflict and arms supply.”

The hearing at the House of Representatives today, as mentioned by the New York Times, aimed to “review the Defense Department’s budget request for almost $1.45 trillion (around 1.24 trillion euros) for the coming year.” On this occasion, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the $25 billion amount allocated so far in the Iran conflict, justifying it by the need to eliminate the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program.

Donald Trump’s “War Minister” also spent “a significant amount of his time criticizing lawmakers whose agreement was necessary to obtain this funding,” according to the New York Times, denouncing “the reckless, irresponsible, and defeatist remarks of Democratic and some Republican members of Congress.”