US has spent $25 bln so far on Iran war: Senior Pentagon official

The US has spent approximately $25 billion so far on the Iran war, a senior Pentagon official told lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

Pentagon acting comptroller Jules Hurst made the comments during a hearing with the House Armed Services Committee (HASC). The joint US-Israeli war on Iran, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, commenced on Feb. 28.

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“Most of that is in munitions… A part of that’s obviously O&M [Operations and Maintenance] and equipment replacement,” Hurst said during the hearing to discuss the Pentagon’s budget request for fiscal year 2027.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth were also present.

Hegseth defends Iran war

Hegseth defended the Iran war, saying it was not a quagmire and attacking Democratic lawmakers as “feckless” for criticizing the unpopular conflict. Hegseth was testifying before Congress for the first time since the US and Israel launched the war.

The Pentagon chief pushed back against questions about the war’s cost, saying: “The question I would ask this committee is, what is it worth to ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon?”

US President Donald Trump’s popularity has taken a pounding since the conflict began and just 34 percent of Americans approve of the US conflict with Iran, down from 36 percent in mid-April and 38 percent in mid-March, the Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

Democrats peppered Hegseth with questions about the open-ended conflict, with Rep. John Garamendi of California calling it a “quagmire” and “political and economic disaster at every level.”

Hegseth responded angrily. “You call it a quagmire, handing propaganda to our enemies? Shame on you for that statement,” Hegseth said in response to Garamendi, and slammed “reckless, feckless, and defeatist” Congressional Democrats. “Don’t say: ‘I support the troops on one hand, and then a two-month mission is a quagmire.’ ... Who are you cheering for here? Who you pulling for?”

With agencies

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