New Delhi, July 22 -- Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that the cost of the U.S. war with Iran has climbed to $37.5 billion, marking an $8.5 billion increase from the nearly $29 billion estimate he gave in May.

"The estimate we have as of today is $37.5 billion," Hegseth said during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing

Further defending a request for $67 billion in supplemental funding for the Pentagon, Hegseth and General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress the funding is "urgent" and "necessary" to cover the Pentagon's costs for the Iran war through the end of September.

"Without these funds, we face critical shortfalls," Hegseth told the Senate panel and warned that it would threaten the d...