The Pentagon told lawmakers on May 12 that the United States' war in Iran has cost about $29 billion so far, as officials updated figures during budget and appropriations hearings in Congress. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]
Jules Hurst, the Pentagon's acting comptroller, said the higher estimate reflects revised costs for equipment repair and replacement as well as operational expenses. He told lawmakers the joint staff and comptroller teams are constantly reviewing the tally. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]
The new figure is about $4 billion higher than the Pentagon's estimate on April 29, when it put the cost at $25 billion. Some reports said the updated estimate translated to about 290 billion yuan, while one report gave a Singapore dollar equivalent of S$36.9 billion. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]
The reports said the issue has also entered the political fight ahead of US midterm elections, with Democrats trying to tie the conflict and regional disruption to cost-of-living concerns. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 11]
Some sources said the $29 billion estimate does not include the cost of repairing damaged US bases in the Middle East, while other reports did not say whether those costs were included. The Pentagon is due to keep updating the estimate as its finance teams review the numbers. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]
