Iran-US war updates: Trump threatens to attack nuclear site as Hegseth reveals staggering cost of war

Pakistan has asked the United States for a $10 billion exchange stabilization facility, according to a source briefed on the matter, which, if approved, could provide a lifeline for the cash-strapped South Asian economy.

The request, which is being reported for the first time, follows Pakistan’s role in brokering talks over the Iran war, which raised its diplomatic profile and stirred hopes that it could seek economic gains from Washington and other partners.

In the request to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Islamabad is seeking a Bilateral Exchange Stabilization Support Facility between the U.S. and the Pakistani government worth $10 billion with maturity of up to five years.

The facility, if agreed to, would bolster Pakistan’s reserves, ease pressure on the rupee and reduce its reliance on multilateral financing, even as Islamabad undertakes tighter fiscal and monetary policies in line with its International Monetary Fund program.

The U.S. Treasury declined to comment on the reported request.

Iran executed a man for charges linked to protests in the January, the judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported on Wednesday.

Mizan identified the man as Mehdi Khaneki and said he was executed for “operational actions” that benefited Israel, the United States and hostile groups. It said he also produced and possessed weapons.

Iran’s military is claiming fresh strikes on US military targets in Jordan and Bahrain, per state media.

Targets were identified in Jordan’s Al Azraq base and Bahrain’s Sheikh Isa air base.

Traffic around the Strait of Hormuz was still subdued on Wednesday as clashes between the US and Iran continue to escalate.

Ship tracking data from Marine Traffic shows limited movement around the Strait itself, which has been affected by spoofing and radio interference since the start of the conflict.

Marco Rubio held talks with Indian foreign minister S. Jaishankar on the sidelines of the Asean meeting, discussing the Iran war as he is met counterparts of the Quad grouping.

Rubio reaffirmed the commitment of Quad – the US, India, Australia and Japan – to maritime security in the Indo-Pacific.

“We are united in our conviction that peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific maritime domain underpin the security and prosperity of the region,” the leaders said in a statement.

Rubio added in a post on X that, “The Quad remains a priority, and we will meet again later this year.”

After his talks with Jaishankar, he said an interim US-India trade deal that Washington said is “almost complete.”

“The world is extremely turbulent, and it is increasingly evident that no single nation or even grouping can deal with it on its own,” Jaishankar said.

Rubio is also expected to meet Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the summit.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio has warned that Iran’s demand to control and levy tolls on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz would endanger the global economy and set a dangerous precedent for international waterways.

Speaking at an Asean foreign ministers’ meeting in Manila on Wednesday, Rubio said allowing a country to control an international shipping lane and attack vessels that refuse to pay would undermine the principle of freedom of navigation.

“If we create a precedent in the Middle East where a nation state can decide that they are going to control an international waterway, charge a toll and if you don’t pay them, blow up your ships, we have created a very dangerous precedent which will repeat itself in other parts of the world, including in this region,” he said.

Donald Trump has warned that the US military will hit Iran’s “Pickaxe Mountain” nuclear complex soon.

Trump said the US military would be “hitting that area pretty soon, and very heavily,” referring to Pickaxe Mountain – known in Iran as Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La – a fortified underground site near one of the country’s main nuclear enrichment facilities.

Pickaxe Mountain, about 220km south of Tehran and near the Natanz nuclear facility, is believed to house an underground complex buried nearly 100 metres inside the mountain.

Little is known about the site, which experts say is still under construction, and is likely too deep to be reached by even the US’s most advanced bunker buster missiles.

According to the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), the facility was not targeted during the US-Israeli strikes in either the 2025 or 2026 conflicts.

Pete Hegseth’s latest estimate for the growing costs of the Iran war has now reached $37.5 billion.

That’s likely a low-end estimate, according to analysts.

Before the last week of attacks, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies estimated total costs to have reached between $34 billion and $42 billion. Other estimates place the true cost of the war at more than $100 billion.