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Iran war price tag hits US$25 billion as Hegseth defends record Pentagon budget

By Yuanyue Dang

The two-month war with Iran has cost about US$25 billion, a Pentagon official told lawmakers on Wednesday, as US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth defended a record $1.5 trillion military budget that faces backlash from Democrats. At a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Wednesday, Jules Hurst III, the Pentagon’s chief financial officer, offered the first official estimate of the cost of the war in Iran. He said that most of the US$25 billion in spending went towards ammunition, but the US...