Pentagon: $37.5 billion Iran war cost so far
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegsey has estimated the cost of the war on Iran at $37.5 billion, according to the latest Pentagon estimates.
This came during the appearance of Higseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Kaine on Tuesday (July 21) before the Senate Appropriations Committee to defend the Trump administration's strategy on the war on Iran, requesting an additional $80 billion to replenish weapons stockpiles and fund the conflict.
Hegseth called for the additional funding to be approved to "maintain military readiness to meet this year's new demands and accelerate the development of capabilities to replace resources that have already been used," but did not explicitly indicate that the funding was related to the war on Iran.
The U.S. secretary of war accused China and Russia of helping Iran through various levels, adding that there are several ways to restrict such cooperation but are secret.
He added that Iran still has the ability to shoot at commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, and that it does not currently charge tolls for the passage of ships but shoots at them, pointing to the continuation of the US blockade. "Not every Iranian boat, machine gun or missile can be eliminated," he said.
The Minister of War "acknowledges" the difficulty of destroying the site of Iran's Jabal Fez
The figure announced by the secretary of war is the latest figure released after the War Department's previous estimate last May of $29 billion. That cost includes weapons used by U.S. forces with repairs and equipment replacements, not to mention the costs of damaged U.S. military bases in the Middle East.
Lawmakers pointed to the contradiction between the War Minister's remarks between mentioning the destruction of Iran's arsenal and then asserting its ability to target U.S. bases. In response, Hegseth said that "Iran is currently in its weakest military state in a decade and possibly in the last 47 years."
He added that Iran established its program by trying to build conventional self-defense capabilities as part of its pursuit of nuclear weapons, which included thousands of ballistic missiles, noting that many missiles have been destroyed, but "they still have some capabilities," he said.
Asked by Republican Senator John F. Kennedy how capable U.S. forces could destroy the Jebel Fez area, where a new nuclear facility is reportedly underground, Higgseth replied with caution: "A lot of our capabilities are classified as classified information, but if there's any party in the world that can accomplish something like this, it's the U.S. military."
Democrats won't allocate extra money for war on Iran
The top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Patty Murray, confirmed that Democrats would not vote in favor of allocating additional funds for the war on Iran, adding that President Donald Trump's administration is fighting the war without congressional authorization and at the same time expects Americans to bear the costs without transparency or explanation.
Republican Senator Susan Collins criticized Secretary of War Hegsey for firing women and people of color and blocking their promotion to her positions, citing a report that pointed to 40 high-ranking officers being excluded from promotion lists and the dismissal or marginalization of more than 24 generals and admirals, adding that more than half of them were women or black.
U.S. lawmakers on Monday called for an end to the war on Iran after the deaths of three new U.S. soldiers, as anger continues in Washington over Trump's insistence that the conflict continue without a clear horizon.