US Says Iran War Cost at $37.5 Billion

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on July 21, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on July 21, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)
TT

US Says Iran War Cost at $37.5 Billion

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on July 21, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on July 21, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)

Fresh US strikes triggered air defenses in Tehran on Wednesday after President Donald Trump warned he was "not finished" with a war with Iran that has already cost his nation $37.5 billion.

After the foes' fighting over the strategic Strait of Hormuz led to the collapse of a preliminary deal, the Middle East war has expanded to include the region's other key chokepoint for global oil supplies.

The US military said its latest attacks hit targets such as "military logistics infrastructure", while Iranian state media reported strikes around the country, including Bushehr, which hosts a nuclear power plant.

"News sources reported minutes ago that air defense activity was heard in the west, east and northeast of Tehran," state TV posted on Telegram.

As the war nears the five-month mark and November legislative elections approach, Trump has faced intense political pressure to end the conflict, which is unpopular even with segments of his base.

Critics have pointed to the cost of the war that Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth said Tuesday had soared to $37.5 billion, defending a request for tens of billions in additional funding for the military.

The US military said Tuesday it had launched an eleventh consecutive night of strikes against Iran, saying it targeted military sites to "further degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said Tuesday that the next US target could be an underground complex known as Pickaxe Mountain, a subterranean nuclear site near Natanz where Western intelligence suspects Iran is building an undeclared enrichment facility.

Iran threatened reprisals, with the Khatam Al-Anbiya military command saying it would "consider it as an expansion of war in the region" if such an attack were carried out, threatening strikes on "all the interests of America, the allies and supporters", state-run broadcaster IRIB reported.

Two weeks after fighting resumed between the decades-old foes, Trump said Iran would need more than 20 years to recover from the damage inflicted in the Middle East war.

"If we left right now, it would take Iran 20, 25 years to rebuild," he said. "We're not finished at all... we're not leaving right now.

Kuwait's army said Wednesday its air defenses were engaging with drone attacks from Iran, the latest round of Tehran's reprisals.

Bahrain said Tuesday it intercepted Iranian attacks as sirens sounded repeatedly, while Kuwait and Jordan said they had intercepted drone and missile strikes.

Despite the fighting, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said diplomatic exchanges with Washington through mediators were continuing.

Mediator Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called for restraint during a meeting with Iran's Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni.

Sharif urged all sides to "refrain from actions that could further destabilize the region", his office said.