Pentagon says Iran war has cost $37.5 billion, seeks more funding despite anti-war sentiment

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday asked for more funding for the US war against Iran at a Senate hearing, where he said the cost of the war has risen to $37.5 billion ​so far, up from the $29 billion estimated in May.

Supplemental funding for the war with Iran is "urgent, necessary," Hegseth testified during the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing.

US President Donald Trump asked Congress last month for nearly $90 billion in additional funding, most of it related to the Iran conflict.

Hegseth also told Congress that military training would need to be curtailed without an urgent funding boost, urging lawmakers to approve not just the supplemental request but also a $1.5 trillion defense budget for fiscal 2027.

The request ​has set the stage for a fight with lawmakers frustrated with the war, with several Democrats questioning the direction of the Iran war at the hearing. 

Senator Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, warned of "another forever war," adding that "this war is now spiraling out of control again."

"The reason why they (people) are so upset with you and this administration is because the words you have used in ‌the past ⁠don't add up," Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said. "It's either over, or it's not over. It's within two weeks, or it's not two weeks, it's either missiles or it's not missiles."

A recent Washington Post-Ipsos poll found that 68% of Americans believe the war is not "worth fighting."

The Washington Post noted that the assessment of this war is worse than in any Post-ABC News poll during the long Iraq War and on par with the worst ratings of the war in Afghanistan, which came in July 2013, when 67% said that conflict was not worth fighting.

(With input from agencies)