PNN – CNN reported that the US Department of War still does not know how much it will cost to repair Washington’s bases and facilities in the Middle East after suffering damage during the war with Tehran, and the amount needed for repairs is not included in the Pentagon’s $1.5 trillion budget request for next year.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, Jules “J” Hurst III, a Pentagon official who currently serves as the agency’s supervisor, told reporters during a budget briefing on Tuesday: That’s not reflected in the [2027] request, and part of that is we’re going to assess what our position in the Middle East should be, right? We need to make sure we know what we want to build in the future.
Hurst said the Pentagon “doesn’t have a final figure for the extent of the damage to our facilities overseas” and that it depends on “how we decide to rebuild them or whether we will do it or not.”
Before the ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran, American forces and facilities across the region were repeatedly targeted by Iranian drones and missiles. Hurst said any funding requests for repairs to American facilities would be included in separate budget requests in the future.
Officials announced Tuesday that the $1.5 trillion budget request for 2027 would be a 42 percent increase in the Department of Defense budget.
The US and Israel have launched a series of airstrikes on military and residential areas in Iran since late February, including one that killed the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, in Tehran. Thousands of civilians and a number of military commanders have been killed across the country in the wake of attacks by Washington and the Zionist regime.
In response to the war imposed by Washington and the Tel Aviv regime, the Iranian armed forces launched Operation “True Promise 4” against the positions of the Zionist regime in the occupied territories and American military centers in West Asia, inflicting heavy losses on them in several waves of these operations.
The New York Times also reported at the end of the first month of the war, citing American officials, that Iran had inflicted severe damage on American military bases in the Middle East, forcing many American troops to relocate to hotels and office spaces throughout the region.
The officials added that American forces are now “working remotely”—with the exception of pilots and fighter crews who fly and maintain the planes and carry out the strikes.
According to the New York Times, military sources said that the situation also reflects a miscalculation by the US government about how Iran would respond.
The Pentagon confirmed that at least 400 American soldiers have been wounded in the war since the massive US and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28. The death toll remains at 13.
Lieutenant Colonel Ibrahim Zulfiqari, spokesman for the Central Headquarters of the Seal of the Prophets (PBUH), recently said that the US military is hiding the true number of dead and wounded.
According to the Wall Street Journal, much of the damage was caused by Iranian ballistic missiles and drones.