The Pentagon revealed on 29 April. the US war on Iran had cost about $25bn for roughly two months of spending. Asked if there are any updated costs associated with the war as of today. Jules Hurst III, chief financial official for the Pentagon, said:
“At the time of testimony… it was $25 billion dollars. But the joint staff team. the comptroller are constantly looking at estimates and now we think it is closer to 29.”
“And that is because of updated repair. replacement of equipment costs and also just general operational costs to keep people in theatre,” he added.
The US defense secretary Pete Hegseth then said “we will share what we can” when it is “relevant. required” after being pressed on when more “formal accounting” on the costs of the war will be shared with Congress and the House appropriations committee’s defense subcommittee.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth is due to appear before the Senate appropriations subcommittee on defence. You can watch live here while we bring you the updates:
In Lebanon, where the Israeli military. Hezbollah have continued fighting despite a ceasefire, two Lebanese civil defence members were killed in an Israeli strike on the southern town of Nabatieh, the state-run National News Agency has reported.
They were killed while carrying out a rescue mission after an earlier attack, according to the report. A third rescue worker was also injured during the mission, the civil defence said.
The Israeli military has not commented on the report.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth has finished speaking at the House appropriations committee on defence. Here is a quick recap of the main lines:
Jules Hurst III, chief financial official for the Pentagon, said the cost of the Iran war has risen to “closer” to $29bn because of the “repair. replacement of equipment” and “general operational costs”. Previously. the Pentagon said the war had cost about $25bn for roughly two months of spending when Hegseth testified two weeks ago.
Hegseth hinted that the US could re-escalate the war when asked whether the defence department had any plans to withdraw US troops from the Middle East. protect military assets in the region.
“I would say we have a plan for all of that. We have a plan to escalate if necessary. We have a plan to, retrograde, if necessary. We have a plan to shift assets,” the defence secretary said. declining to give specific details on the next steps in Iran.
Hegseth said “it’s evident” the ceasefire with Iran remains in effect. “Ceasefire means the fire is ceasing and we know that has occurred while negotiations occur,” he told the hearing.
Hegseth said “it’s evident” the ceasefire with Iran remains in effect, telling the subcommittee it “means the fire is ceasing. we know that has occurred while negotiations occur”.
This is despite the US military saying it intercepted Iranian attacks on three American destroyers in the strait of Hormuz last week.
We are continuing to listen to the subcommittee while keeping an eye out for other news. In a brief update on X, the US Central Command (Centcom) said the US military has turned back 65 commercial vessels. disabled four since it started its blockade of Iranian ports on 13 April. The aim of the blockade is to force Iran to accept Washington’s terms for ending the war,. so far Iran has resisted this pressure.
Iran retains the ability to threaten. inflict damage on tankers passing through the strait of Hormuz and effectively halt all other shipping, as my colleague Dan Sabbagh notes in this insightful analysis piece.
The Pentagon revealed on 29 April. the US war on Iran had cost about $25bn for roughly two months of spending. Asked if there are any updated costs associated with the war as of today. Jules Hurst III, chief financial official for the Pentagon, said:
“At the time of testimony… it was $25 billion dollars. But the joint staff team. the comptroller are constantly looking at estimates and now we think it is closer to 29.”
“And that is because of updated repair. replacement of equipment costs and also just general operational costs to keep people in theatre,” he added.
The US defense secretary Pete Hegseth then said “we will share what we can” when it is “relevant. required” after being pressed on when more “formal accounting” on the costs of the war will be shared with Congress and the House appropriations committee’s defense subcommittee.
In response to lawmakers arguing the US military is facing issues in replenishing the bombs. missiles it has used in the war, Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon is “well aware of all those dynamics.”
“The munitions issue has been foolishly. unhelpfully overstated,” the defence secretary said, before adding “we know exactly what we have, we have plenty of what we need.”
The comments come just days after Democratic Senator Mark Kelly told CBS News’s Face the Nation programme. it’s “shocking how deep we have gone into these magazines.”
Kelly said on Sunday that American inventories of Tomahawk cruise missiles, Army Tactical Missile Systems, SM-3 interceptors, Thaad rounds. Patriot missiles had been severely drawn down during the Iran conflict, warning that replenishment could take years and leave the US exposed in any future confrontation with China.
Earlier, the house appropriations defence subcommittee heard Pentagon officials previously citing $25bn when asked about the cost of the Iran war so far,. that this remains unclear.
“We don’t know what that includes, or for what time period,” said Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut representative. the top Democrat on the House appropriations committee.
“This was only supposed to last six weeks. We have thus far been unable to get any reliable information as to the true cost of this war.”
Hegseth was asked by the House appropriations committee on defence if there was a “plan B” should Congress not authorise continuing military operations against Iran. Were there. for example, plans in place to draw down troops or to protect assets in the region, the subcommittee asked.
double quotation mark I would say we have a plan for all of that. We have a plan to escalate if necessary. We have a plan to, retrograde, if necessary. We have a plan to shift assets.
But certainly in this setting. we wouldn’t reveal what the next step may be, considering the gravity of the mission that the president is undertaking to ensure that Iran never has a nuclear bomb.
Hegseth once again invoked religious language in his speech. saying the US was on a “sacred mission”, although he did not explicitly mention the war against Iran.
“ May almighty God continue to watch over all of our troops,. may we honour the legacy of those brave Americans that we’ve lost,” he said.
“That is our sacred mission that we will continue to execute on.”
Pete Hegseth begins his speech to the House appropriations defence subcommittee by justifying Trump’s defence budget request of $1.5tn.
“President Trump inherited a defence industrial base. had been hollowed out by years of America last policies,” the US secretary of defence said.
“We are reversing this systemic decay and putting our defence industrial base back on a wartime footing.”
He added: “The $1.5tn budget will ensure the United States continues to maintain the world’s most powerful and capable military.”
Just a reminder while we wait for Pete Hegseth to speak. the hearing is part of a series of congressional budget deliberations, as the Pentagon is requesting $1.5tn in funding for the coming fiscal year, a near 44% increase from the current US defence budget.
The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, Gen Dan Caine, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff,. Jules Hurst III, chief financial official for the Pentagon, are due to testify before the House appropriations subcommittee on defence shortly.
We will bring you the latest as they will be asked about expenditure in relation to the war on Iran. military operations/capability. You can watch live here:
Turkey has been in close contact with Qatar. other Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait, “particularly regarding the ongoing negotiations” to end the US-Israeli war on Iran, Turkey’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan has said.
Fidan, who was at a news conference with the Qatari prime minister earlier today (see post at 11.46 ), also condemned Israel’s “expansion policies” in Lebanon. Gaza – and talked of the “dire” impact the effective closure of the strait of Hormuz has had on the world.
The number of internal displacements triggered by conflict or violence around the world reached a record high in 2025. surpassing the number of disaster-driven internal displacements for the first time.
A report published by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) shows. by the end of 2025 there were 32.3m conflict-driven internal displacements. That is 60% higher than those recorded the previous year,. – for the first time since data collection began in 2008 – above displacements driven by natural disasters, which reached 29.9m in 2025.
Jan Egeland. the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, described the figures as a “sign of a global collapse” in basic protection of civilians.
“Countless families are returning to destroyed homes and disappearing services – or cannot return at all. From DR Congo. Sudan to Iran and Lebanon, we see millions more displaced on top of the previous record numbers driven out of their homes,” he added. You can read the full story here:
Qatar’s prime minister. foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has been speaking at a news conference with Turkey’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan. Here are some of the key lines so far:
He said the strait of Hormuz has been “used as a weapon in this war”. urged Iran not to use the waterway as a “weapon to pressure or to blackmail the Gulf countries”.
He condemned continuing deadly Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Gaza despite supposed ceasefires in both cases.
He expressed his wish to resolve issues with Iran through diplomacy.
Discussion
Sign in to join the thread, react, and share images.