US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Iran war has cost the country $37.5 billion so far, up from a previous estimate of nearly $29 billion in mid-May, AFP reports.

“The estimate we have as of today is $37.5bn,” Hegseth testified during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing at which he defended a request for some $67bn in supplemental funding for the Pentagon.

Hegseth and General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress the funding request is “urgent” and “necessary” to pay the Pentagon’s costs for the Iran war through the end of September.

But Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen challenged that assessment, saying Hegseth still has $75bn available in unspent funding.