WASHINGTON, April 29 (Xinhua) -- A senior Pentagon official said Wednesday that the cost of the ongoing U.S. war against Iran is estimated to be 25 billion U.S. dollars so far, as the conflict has dragged on for two months.

"Approximately, of this day, we're spending about 25 billion dollars on Operation Epic Fury," acting Pentagon Comptroller Jules Hurst III told the House Armed Services Committee, as he testified alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine.

Hurst added that most of those costs were from munitions and included operations, maintenance and equipment replacements.

According to previous media reports, Pentagon officials told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing on March 11 that the Trump administration spent more than 11.3 billion dollars in the first six days of its war against Iran.

Hegseth's attendance at the hours-long hearing marks his first public questioning since the United States launched military strikes against Iran.

During the hearing, most Republicans expressed support for President Donald Trump's decision to carry out military action against Iran, while Democrats engaged in heated exchanges with Hegseth over the war's strategy, objectives and consequences.

In response to a series of sharp questions from Democrats regarding the rapidly escalating costs of the Iran war, significant reductions in key munitions stockpiles, and the impact of the conflict on U.S. citizens' cost of living, Hegseth dismissed criticism of the war as political.

The defense secretary also refused to answer questions about how long the conflict might last or how much it would ultimately cost.

He further defended the Pentagon's proposed record-high defense budget of 1.5 trillion dollars for fiscal year 2027. "(This) budget will ensure the United States continues to maintain the world's most powerful and capable military, as we grapple with a complex threat environment across multiple theaters," Hegseth said. ■