Washington DC [US], May 12 (AN): On Tuesday, a senior Pentagon budget official told US lawmakers that the war against Iran has resulted in a total of USD 29 billion so far, which already exceeds the estimated budget of USD 25 billion that the Pentagon presented to the US Congress earlier.

However, experts suggest that these estimates are just the US War Department's lowballing of the expenditure, with overall spending potentially going up to USD 1 trillion.

According to a research issued by Harvard Kennedy School last week, war budgeting expert Linda Bilmes states that she is certain that the cost estimates in the war against Iran can reach upto USD 1 trillion, noting that around USD 2 billion is spent a day in short-term, upfront costs, which, according to her, was just 'the tip of the iceberg'.

On Tuesday, Jay Hurst, who is performing the duties of Pentagon Comptroller, informed a House Appropriations Committee hearing that the ongoing US military campaign against the Islamic Republic has so far cost nearly USD 29 billion, revising upward the earlier estimate of USD 25 provided to the US Congress just two weeks ago.

According to CNN, the latest assessment reflects updated operational and equipment-related expenses.

'So, at the time of testimony from [the House Armed Services Committee], it was USD 25 billion, but the joint staff team and the comptroller team are constantly looking at that estimate, and so now we think it's closer to 29. That's because of updated repair and replacement of equipment costs and also just general operational costs to keep people in theatre,' Hurst said.

Hurst later told a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing that the USD 29 billion estimate still does not include the cost of damages sustained by US military bases in the region.

'We just don't have a good estimate at this time,' Hurst added.

According to CNN, previous internal assessments suggested the real financial cost of the conflict could be significantly higher once the repair of damaged infrastructure and replacement of military assets are fully accounted for.

One source cited by CNN estimated the overall cost could eventually rise to between USD 40 billion and USD 50 billion.