An Additional $8 Billion.. A New Account from the Pentagon on the Cost of the War with Iran

SadaNews Economy - U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that the cost of U.S. military operations against Iran has reached 37.5 billion dollars, an increase of nearly 8 billion dollars compared to the last announced estimate.

Hegseth explained in his statements before the Senate Appropriations Committee that this figure also includes anticipated costs until September 30 of next year, including troop salaries and operational and maintenance costs.

Hegseth confirmed that the United States is imposing what he described as an effective blockade on Iranian ships and ports, noting that Iran does not impose transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz, but "fires on ships".

He also stated that U.S. forces have destroyed thousands of Iranian munitions, while Tehran has hidden another part of the munitions inside closed and underground facilities, according to him.

The U.S. Defense Secretary acknowledged that Iran still possesses some military capabilities, yet the successive American strikes and the damage inflicted by those strikes on Iran's capabilities have placed it, in his words, "in the worst position it has ever been in".

Hegseth further considered that Iran is experiencing what he described as "the weakest phases of its military in the past decade, and perhaps in 47 years", accusing it of building a "terrorist army" to defend its pursuit of acquiring nuclear weapons.

He added that "it is not possible to eliminate every fast boat or every machine gun on board a fast boat or every cruise missile in the Iranian arsenal".