Pentagon Reveals Cost of Iran War Ballooning to Rp 506 T
The Pentagon, or the US Department of Defense, has revealed that the cost of the war against Iran has risen to nearly US$29 billion, equivalent to Rp 506.9 trillion, so far. The conflict raging between the US and Israel against Iran began at the end of February.
The ballooning war costs were disclosed as US President Donald Trump faces increasingly tight domestic scrutiny over the conflict and its impact on US military readiness.
The scale of the war costs against Iran, as reported by AFP on Wednesday (13/5/2026), was revealed during a budget meeting at Capitol Hill, the US congressional complex, on Tuesday (12/5) local time. The figure is about US$4 billion (Rp 69.9 trillion) higher than the Pentagon’s previous estimate given two weeks ago.
In the US congressional budget meeting, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, and Pentagon finance chief Jules Hurst III were grilled on the Iran war costs while discussing the Trump administration’s proposed US$1.5 trillion defence budget for 2027.
“During that testimony … the amount was US$25 billion,” Hurst said, referring to the estimate provided by Hegseth when testifying before the US Congress on 29 April.
“But the joint staff team and the financial oversight team have continuously reviewed that estimate, and now we estimate it is approaching 29 (US$29 billion),” he stated, citing updates on “costs for repairing and replacing military equipment” as well as broader operational expenditures.
Democrats and other war critics questioned the Pentagon’s calculations, stating that the actual costs—including damage from Iran’s retaliatory strikes—could be much higher.
When asked when the US Congress would receive a more comprehensive report, Hegseth said the government would request “whatever we think is needed” separately from the Pentagon budget, without providing a deadline.
This question-and-answer session between the US Congress and Trump administration officials was held as the fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran increasingly wavers. Trump has just stated that the ceasefire since early April is in “critical condition,” after he rejected Iran’s latest proposal.
Democrats in the US Congress used the question-and-answer session to condemn the Trump administration over the ballooning war costs and what they described as a lack of transparency about US objectives in the war.
“The question that ultimately needs to be answered is: what have we achieved and at what cost?” asked the Democratic leader on the House Appropriations Committee, Rosa DeLauro, during the session.
Democrats, who accuse Trump of launching the war without US congressional authorisation, have repeatedly proposed measures to limit the US President’s war powers, but they have always been blocked by Republicans.