US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth Says Iran War Costs Have Surpassed Rp600 Trillion

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has revealed that the cost of the war against Iran has now surpassed US$37.5 billion (approximately Rp600 trillion). This figure has risen sharply compared to the mid-May estimate, which stood at around US$29 billion. Hegseth disclosed the updated cost during testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, where he was defending a request for an additional US$67 billion in funding for the Pentagon. “The estimate we have as of today is US$37.5 billion,” Hegseth told the senators. When asked by Democratic Senator Dick Durbin whether costs would continue to rise given that the ceasefire between the US and Iran had effectively ended, Hegseth explained that a portion of the US$37.5 billion covers basic operational expenses, such as MRE logistics for soldiers through the end of the fiscal year. Although the Pentagon’s official report records this figure, experts believe the total US expenditure to date is significantly higher. In March, analysts estimated the conflict was costing US taxpayers more than US$890 million per day. These enormous costs cover air and naval operations, ground troop deployments, weapons systems usage, and missile interceptions, with the initial phase of the conflict being the most expensive. Earlier, Pentagon Comptroller Jules ‘Jay’ Hurst III had projected the war costs at US$29 billion. Meanwhile, a separate analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) last month estimated the financial burden on the Department of Defence had reached approximately US$40 billion. CSIS Senior Adviser Mark Cancian noted that this analysis did not yet include routine operational costs already allocated within the Department of Defence’s regular fiscal year 2026 budget, which exceeds US$1 trillion. The situation in the Middle East has become increasingly critical after Iran launched retaliatory strikes on US military facilities, triggering emergency alerts in Kuwait and Bahrain. US Central Command officially announced new airstrikes on Iran under orders from the Commander-in-Chief to retaliate for an attack in Jordan and to secure the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump claimed that Iran’s military power was paralysed following the February strikes and that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was increasingly weakened. Armed conflict erupted in the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy engaging in fierce firefights with US forces. One crew member was killed and eight others injured after two UAE tankers were struck by Iranian cruise missiles in the strait amid escalating tensions. The Pentagon estimated that the first two months of the Iran war cost US$25 billion, a sum equivalent to the combined annual budgets of three major US agencies. The first week of US military operations against Iran alone reportedly cost more than US$6 billion.