The United States’ war in Iran has cost $29 billion so far, a senior Pentagon official said on Tuesday, an increase of $4 billion from an estimate provided late last month.
With just six months before midterm elections in which President Donald Trump’s Republicans may face an uphill battle to keep their House majority, Democrats are riding high in public opinion polls as they attempt to link the war with cost of living issues.
On April 29, the Pentagon said the war at that point had cost $25 billion.
Jules Hurst, who is performing the duties of the comptroller, told lawmakers on Tuesday that the new cost included updated repair and replacement of equipment and operational costs.
“The joint staff team and the comptroller team are constantly looking at that estimate,” Hurst said. He was speaking alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine.
It is unclear how the Pentagon arrived at the $29 billion figure. A source told Reuters in March that Trump’s administration estimated the first six days of the war had cost at least $11.3 billion.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart and Doina Chiacu; Editing by David Ljunggren)