Hegseth: War in Iran has cost $37.5 billion

At a Senate budget hearing on Tuesday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth estimated that the war with Iran had so far cost $37.5 billion.

During a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Capitol Hill, Hegseth said the $37.5 billion was not only for the cost of military equipment used, and included expenses such as meals.

The hearing was to consider a request for supplemental funding of around $67 billion for the war, which Hegseth said was an "urgent, necessary injection of resources", as well as $1.5 trillion for next year's military budget.

"Without these funds, we face critical shortfalls," Hegseth testified.

Democratic Senator Patty Murphy warned of "another forever war".

"This war is now spiraling out of control again," Murray said, adding that US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that "a deal is near, and the war will be over soon. But now, he's asking for $70 billion more — and for us to just trust him it'll all work out fine."

Trump said on Tuesday that Iran "desperately" wants ceasefire talks, though the US has not cut back on daily attacks.

"We're not finished," Trump told reporters at the White House. "We're not leaving."

Trump said the US could soon hit Pickaxe Mountain, a hardened facility deep underground where it is believed Iran has moved the centrifuges required to make nuclear fuel, as well as its stockpiles of enriched uranium.

In a post on Tuesday, Trump compared the deaths of 17 US military personnel so far in Iran — and the zero deaths of US troops in the operation to illegally seize Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro — with fatalities in previous US wars: 2,000 in Afghanistan, 4,600 in Iraq, 58,220 in Vietnam and 36,574 in Korea.

However, some senators have questioned the casualty numbers in Iran, arguing the administration is not being transparent, and is hiding behind the claim of "operational security".

"The ceasefire collapsed. The war is escalating. American troops are paying the price. Iran knew it attacked our bases. The Pentagon knew our troops were wounded. The only people kept in the dark were the American people," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Democratic Senator Tim Kane said the administration needs to provide better answers for the military deaths and the president's threats to widen the war, despite Congress voting to limit his powers in the Middle East.

"You better have a really good answer for that question. And as of right now, this war of choice that Donald Trump started, he cannot answer that question. Congress has definitively declared — both houses — that this war is illegal. Only we, in the Constitution, have that power. The president is ignoring us, even though that declaration was made by two Republican majority houses," Kaine said.

US crude traded between $81 and $85 per barrel on Tuesday, while Brent futures settled above $90, its first close above that threshold since June 11.

Hegseth said the US had been helping guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming they had "been in control of moving traffic" for some time.

"We pushed almost, I believe, between 400 and 500 million barrels of oil under the nose of Iran over the course of Project Freedom," Hegseth told the committee.

Trump also dismissed the threat by Houthi forces in Yemen to block transit in the Red Sea, which Saudi Arabia has been using as a partial alternative route to ship oil.

"If there is something like that, we'll just have to take care of business," Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.

shiguang@chinadailyusa.com