Iran warns of long war that would 'destroy' world economy, Israel pounds Beirut's southern suburbs

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A projectile struck a container ship near the United Arab Emirates, the UK maritime agency said on Thursday, as Iran carries out a military campaign to disrupt global markets by choking trade in the Gulf.

"The container ship was struck by (an) unknown projectile causing a small fire onboard," the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said in a statement, adding the ship's crew had been reported as safe.

Three crew members were "believed to be trapped" aboard a Thai bulk carrier that was hit by two projectiles on Wednesday while travelling through the crucial Strait of Hormuz, the vessel's owner said.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday they had struck the Thai-registered Mayuree Naree, as well as a Liberia-flagged vessel, in the strait because the ships had ignored "warnings".

The Thai ship was struck Wednesday morning while transiting through the Gulf waterway, after departing Khalifa port in the United Arab Emirates.

"The strikes damaged the Vessel's engine room and caused a fire," Thai transport company Precious Shipping said in a statement Wednesday evening.

"Three crew members are reported missing and believed to be trapped in the engine room," it said, adding that authorities were working to rescue them.

The Omani navy had rescued 20 sailors and efforts were underway to rescue the remaining three, the Thai navy said Wednesday. Thailand's foreign ministry said all 23 crew members were Thai.

Saudi Arabia says it has shot down a drone approaching the embassy district in its capital, Riyadh.

Oman has evacuated all vessels from its key oil export terminal at Mina al-Fahal as a precautionary measure, amid ongoing regional military escalation, Bloomberg News has reported.

An Iranian attack targeted fuel tanks at a facility in Bahrain's Al-Muharraq region in the early hours of Thursday, the Bahraini interior ministry has said.

Videos shared online showed the tanks engulfed in flames as firefighters try to put out the blaze.

It comes after similar attacks in Oman on Wednesday.

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لقطات لتعامل الأجهزة الأمنية مع العدوان الإيراني السافر الذي استهدف خزانات الوقود في إحدى المنشآت في محافظة المحرق . اللهم احفظ البحرين وأهلها من كل سوء ومكروه. #البحرين #ايران_العدو_الحقيقي pic.twitter.com/PL1mpFAG2y

— خلود سلمان 🇧🇭 (@khulood_salman) March 12, 2026

The Israeli military says more missiles fired from Iran are heading towards Israel.

French President Emmanuel Macron called on Wednesday for Israel to halt its ground offensive in Lebanon and on Iran-backed group Hezbollah to "immediately" stop attacks.

"Hezbollah made a major mistake in dragging Lebanon into a confrontation with Israel. It must immediately cease its attack," Macron posted on X.

"For its part, Israel must clearly renounce any ground offensive in Lebanon," he added.

Macron, who had previously said everything possible must be done to avoid a new war in Lebanon, made the comments after speaking with the country's president Joseph Aoun.

An air strike killed at least two fighters in northern Iraq on Thursday, several sources told AFP.

Thursday's air strike targeted a base in the city of Kirkuk, occupied by the Hashed al-Shaabi, a former paramilitary coalition, now integrated into Iraq's regular army.

A security source in Kirkuk told AFP that at least "two members of the Hashed forces were martyred in an air strike that hit their base".

Search and rescue operations are still underway at the site, which has been engulfed by flames.

بالصور | مبنى مقر الحشد الشعبي الذي تعرض للقصف الليلة في كركوك pic.twitter.com/3hYR3VeQOH

— Kurdistan24 عربية (@arabick24) March 12, 2026

Lebanon's Hezbollah said it launched missiles at an Israeli military intelligence base in the suburbs of Tel Aviv early on Thursday, the Iran-backed group's latest claim in a major operation against Israel it announced hours earlier.

Hezbollah fighters "targeted the Glilot base (the headquarters of the 8200 Military Intelligence Unit)... in the Tel Aviv suburbs with a barrage of advance missiles," the group said in a statement.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said earlier that they had carried out a joint missile operation with ally Hezbollah against targets in Israel.

Lebanon said an Israeli attack along the seafront in west Beirut killed at least seven people early on Thursday, hours after another attack in the heart of the capital.

"The Israeli enemy strike on Ramlet al-Bayda in Beirut led to an initial toll of seven dead and 21 wounded," the health ministry said in a statement, referring to a beach area where many displaced people have been sleeping out in the open after the Israeli military ordered mass evacuations from Beirut's southern suburbs.

Hezbollah and Israel resumed fighting on 2 March.

Saudi Arabia intercepted a drone heading towards the Shaybah oil field on Thursday, as Iran targets the facility again in its campaign to disrupt global energy markets.

"A drone heading towards the Shaybah oil field was intercepted and destroyed," a spokesperson for the country's defence ministry posted on X.

Saudi Arabia had confirmed on Wednesday that it had intercepted several drones targeting the facility, which is crucial to the country's oil production.

Drones were shot down on Wednesday over the Kurdish city of Erbil where debris fell near a five-star hotel and a government hall, a Kurdish security source said.

The drones' targets were not immediately clear.

"Two drones were downed over Erbil," with debris falling near a major five-star hotel, and some crashing into a hall used for important government events in an upscale neighbourhood frequented by foreigners, the security source told AFP.

He added that the US-led international coalition forces, which are deployed at a base in Erbil airport, intercepted the drones, with no casualties reported.

Drone crashed on the building of Saad Abdullah Convention Center in Erbil, next to Divan Hotel. pic.twitter.com/grpH110rke

— Baxtiyar Goran ☀️ (@BaxtiyarGoran) March 11, 2026

An attack on oil tankers near Iraq killed one crew member, Iraqi state television reported on Thursday, citing port authorities.

Farhan Al-Fartousi, from Iraq's General Company for Ports, told state television that one crew member had been killed and 38 rescued so far, and the "search continues for the missing." He did not specify their nationalities or provide details on who was behind the attack.

The Iraqi government's media cell told the national news agency INA that "two tankers were subject to sabotage."

An Israeli airstrike was reported on a building in Aramoun in Lebanon which local media said could be an assassination.

Images shared online showed the aftermath of the attack on an apartment.

It was the second attack in days on the town, which sits in the hills about 15 km south of Beirut in the Aley district.

مباشرة من عرمون pic.twitter.com/YumgKjAm1b

— LebyNews (@lebynews) March 12, 2026

The Israeli military said Thursday that it struck 10 Hezbollah targets in Beirut's southern suburbs, including an intelligence headquarters and command centres, after the Lebanese militant group and Iran claimed joint strikes on Israel.

"Over the past hours, the IDF has begun a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting terror infrastructure belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization across Lebanon," the Israeli military said, adding it hit "dozens of launchers" as well as intelligence and command sites south of Beirut.

At least six people were killed in a strike on Beirut's Ramlet al-Baida seafront early on Thursday, a security source said.

Several casualties have been reported after an Israeli airstrike on a seafront area in Beirut, local media reported.

The strike reportedly targeted a vehicle on the coastal road in Ramlet al-Baida, making it the third attack on the Lebanese capital since Hezbollah and Israel resumed fighting on 2 March.

MTV Lebanon said "dozens" could possibly be killed and injured. The New Arab could not immediately verify this.

Thousands of people displaced from Beirut's southern suburbs are sleeping in their cars and on the streets of the capital, many of them in Ramlet al-Baida.

فيديو متداول للغارة الإسرائيلية التي استهدفت منطقة الرملة البيضاء pic.twitter.com/OSEApEMjZy

— LebanonFiles (@lebanonfile) March 11, 2026

Israel must clearly renounced any ground offensive in Lebanon, French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday evening.

After conversations with his Lebanese and Syrian counterparts, Macron said the coordination initiated by the leaderships in the neighbouring countries is essential, and he will continue to resolutely support it.

Macron said that Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa supports the efforts of Lebanese authorities to restore full state control over their territory.

Israel's military said on Thursday that it was carrying out a "wide-scale wave of strikes" on Tehran after Iran said it had jointly undertaken missile attacks on Israel with its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

"The IDF has begun a wide-scale wave of strikes in Tehran. Details to follow," the Israeli military said on its official Telegram channel.

Dubai authorities are responding to an incident involving a drone that fell onto a building in the vicinity of Dubai Creek Harbour, according to the Dubai Media Office.

Videos shared online showed flames coming out of one building after a suspected Iranian drone attack. The New Arab could not independently verify the footage.

🚨🇮🇷🇺🇸Local reports say a Shahed drone hit the building in Dubai’s Creek Harbour.

pic.twitter.com/1eJIqM2mmg

— EUxReport (@WarNewsWorld1) March 11, 2026

The Saudi defence ministry says it destroyed three ballistic missiles launched towards the Prince Sultan airbase.

Two foreign tankers carrying Iraqi fuel oil were subjected to unidentified attacks inside territorial waters, causing them to catch fire, Iraq's director general of the General Company for Ports Farhan al-Fartousi told Reuters on Wednesday.

Iraq evacuated the 25 crew members from the two vessels and fire is still ablaze on both ships, he added.

Lebanon's health ministry said eight people were killed in an Israeli strike in the country's east on Wednesday.

The strike in Baalbek district "killed eight people and wounded three" others, the ministry said in a statement, also reporting four killed in a strike on Burj al-Shemali on the outskirts of the southern city of Tyre, and 17 wounded in a series of raids on Beirut's southern suburbs.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they carried out an "integrated" missile attack with Hezbollah on Israel on Wednesday, according to Iranian media.

Officials from President Donald Trump's administration estimated during a congressional briefing this week that the first six days of the war on Iran had cost the United States at least $11.3 billion, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

That figure, from a closed-door briefing for senators on Tuesday, did not include the entire cost of the war, but was provided to lawmakers as they have clamored for more information about the conflict.

The $11.3 billion figure was first reported on Wednesday by the New York Times.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that "we won" the Iran war but that the United States will stay in the fight to finish the job.

"You never like to say too early you won. We won," Trump told a campaign-style rally in Hebron, Kentucky. "In the first hour it was over."

He said the United States had knocked out 58 Iranian naval ships.

Trump has seesawed on Iran, crediting the U.S. military for significantly degrading Iran's military but resisting a speedy end to the conflict. "We don't want to leave early do we?" he said. "We got to finish the job."

He said the United States has "virtually destroyed Iran." He seemed to signal that the United States would continue the fight for now. "We don't want to go back every two years," he said.

Iran's ambassador to the United Nations on Wednesday criticized as politically motivated a resolution passed by the Security Council that demanded an immediate halt to Iranian attacks on Gulf states.

"Today's action represents a blatant misuse of the Security Council mandate in pursuit of the political agendas of the certain members, the various states responsible for the brutal war of aggression against my country," Amir Saeid Iravani told the Council.

Israeli drones carried out attacks on several Tehran neighbourhoods on Wednesday evening, killing members of the security forces, Iran's Fars news agency reported.

It was the first time since the outbreak of the Middle East war on February 28 that drone attacks had been reported in the Iranian capital.

Fars said the drones flew over southern and northern districts of Tehran, adding that "several members of the security force and the (volunteer) Basij force stationed at checkpoints were martyred".

An AFP journalist in the northern part of the city heard the loud noise of a drone flying over the area. There were several blasts, including one more powerful than the rest.

It was unclear whether the blasts were connected to the air defence system or to strikes.

Lebanon's Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah said on Wednesday it had launched rockets and advanced missiles at northern Israel as part of a new operation against its foe, as Israel carried out fresh strikes on south Beirut.

Hezbollah in a statement said that "in response to the criminal aggression against dozens of Lebanese cities and towns and Beirut's southern suburbs", its fighters targeted sites in northern Israel "with dozens of rockets" as part of a new operation announced a short time earlier.

In subsequent statements, the group said its fighters also targeted other locations in northern Israel as part of the operation, including the headquarters of the Israeli military's northern command near Safed and two bases in Haifa "with volleys of advanced missiles".

Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X that "we will respond to them", referring to the Hezbollah operation announcement, and vowed a severe response.

Video shows the large barrage of rockets fired by Hezbollah toward northern Israel about two hours ago.

Follow: @velstrad24 pic.twitter.com/1PN47czqwY

— Velstrád 24 (@velstrad24) March 11, 2026

A senior military adviser to Iran's Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei lashed out against US President Donald Trump in remarks to state television on Wednesday, as their countries wage a war that has engulfed the Middle East.

"Trump is the most corrupt and stupid American president," Yahya Rahim Safavi said. "He is Satan himself."

He also reiterated Iran's longstanding threats to eradicate Israel, which is fighting the Islamic republic alongside the United States.

Ukrainian anti-drone experts have begun working in three Gulf states targeted by Iranian attacks, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday.

"Three of our teams have gone -- strong teams of experts, military personnel, engineers, different people. Today the military are already communicating and already working," Zelensky told reporters, including journalists from AFP.

His spokesman confirmed separately that the three countries were Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

A Ukrainian team was also in Jordan, a senior official told AFP on the condition of anonymity, without elaborating.

The Israeli military said Wednesday that it had launched a new wave of strikes on the southern Beirut suburbs, vowing to act with "great force" in the area.

The military said it had begun a "large-scale wave of strikes" on "Hezbollah infrastructure" in the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs, where the Iran-backed group holds sway.

In a separate statement on X, military spokesman Avichay Adraee said Israeli forces "will soon act with great force against (Hezbollah) facilities, interests, and military capabilities" in the area, after the military reported rocket fire from Hezbollah towards Israel "in the last few hours".

6 غارات عنيفة على الضاحية الجنوبية في التوقيت نفسه pic.twitter.com/aFFK0wB0Ij

— Al Jadeed News (@ALJADEEDNEWS) March 11, 2026

Israel has told Lebanon through intermediaries that it strike its civilian infrastructure if the Lebanese government does not curb Hezbollah, Israel's Channel 12 reported.

Israel still has a wide range of targets it can strike in Iran, the military said Wednesday, even as US President Donald Trump suggested there was little left for American forces to hit.

"As an army, we still have a broad bank of targets. We will expand our operations," military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said in a televised briefing. "The goal is to undermine the foundations of the regime."

In a separate statement, an Israeli military source said that since the start of the war, Israel had struck "eight times more targets" than during the 12-day war in June 2025.

The military did not say how many targets it had hit since the current war began on February 28.

US forces have struck 28 Iranian mine-laying vessels, President Donald Trump said Wednesday, as Tehran seeks to choke the vital Strait of Hormuz to oil traffic amid the Middle East war.

"We hit 28 mine ships as of this moment," Trump told reporters during a trip to Cincinnati, Ohio, a day after the US military gave a figure of 16 mine-laying boats destroyed.

Iran has deployed about a dozen mines in the Strait of Hormuz, two sources familiar with the matter said, in a move likely to complicate the reopening of the narrow waterway, an important route for shipping oil and liquefied natural gas.

Exports of oil and LNG through the strategic chokepoint along Iran's coast have effectively been halted by the war launched 12 days ago by the United States and Israel, helping to drive a surge in world energy prices.

Iran’s military command on Wednesday said the world should be prepared for oil to hit $200 a barrel.

One source said the mines were deployed "in the last few days" and that most of their locations were known. But the source declined to say how the U.S. planned to deal with them.

CNN first reported the mining of the strait on Tuesday.

The Israeli military says it has begun an "extensive wave" of attacks in Beirut's southern suburbs.

Israeli attacks in Lebanon since 2 March have killed 634 people, including 91 children, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran carried out a joint missile attack on northern Israel in what was the first coordinated attack since the start of the war, a senior Israeli defence official said on Wednesday.

The US Embassy in Baghdad has warned that Iran and its proxies might target US-owned oil facilities in Iraq.

Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said conveyed to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in a phone call the sultanate's dissatisfaction and condemnation of ongoing attacks targeting Omani territory, the Omani state news agency reported on Wednesday. 

Iran's armed forces threatened on Wednesday to target regional ports if its own ports were attacked during the war with Israel and the United States, state TV reported.

"If our ports and docks are threatened, all ports and docks in the region will be our legitimate targets," state television quoting an armed forces spokesman as saying, without naming him.

US President Donald Trump would "welcome" Iran's participation at the upcoming World Cup in North America, despite the ongoing Middle East war, the White House said on Wednesday.

The war, triggered by US-Israeli strikes on February 28, has thrown into doubt Iran's participation at this summer's men's football World Cup, jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.

The US administration was confirming an Instagram post by FIFA chief Gianni Infantino earlier in the day.

Infantino wrote that at a meeting to discuss preparations for the competition, "President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States."

The comments marked the first time that Infantino, who in December created a FIFA Peace Prize and awarded it to Trump, has acknowledged the ongoing war in the Middle East.

Trump's remarks to Infantino are a stark contrast to his comments last week when he told Politico: "I really don't care" if Iran play at the World Cup."

Three Gulf states are reviewing how they deploy trillions of dollars invested by their sovereign wealth funds in anticipation of offsetting the losses triggered by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, Reuters reports- citing a Gulf official.

These reviews include possible investment pledge reversals, divestments and a re-evaluation of global sponsorship deals as the oil-and-gas-rich states assess how to absorb the financial shock, said the official, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter and without identifying which states.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Kuwait are the top economies in the Gulf Cooperation Council.

"Three of the big four economies in the GCC are all assessing future and current investments and sponsorships if this lasts long," they said.

"A review of their sovereign wealth fund investment strategies has already started," the official told Reuters.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday the EU intends to provide 100 million euros ($115.85 million) in humanitarian aid to Lebanon after she had a call with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.

The EU has already provided 40 tons of supplies to Lebanon and plans more humanitarian flights, she said.

She expressed the EU's solidarity with the Middle East country and its people and welcomed the decision to ban all Hezbollah military activities.

"We must ensure a sovereign and stable Lebanon for its people," she said in a post on X.

Good call with President Joseph Aoun.

I expressed Europe’s solidarity with Lebanon and its people.

We are providing EUR 100 million in humanitarian support.

Yesterday, we delivered over 40 tonnes of supplies and we plan to organise more humanitarian flights.

I welcome the…

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) March 11, 2026

The US military on Wednesday warned civilians to leave port facilities where Iranian naval forces are operating, adding that US forces could not guarantee their safety.

"Iranian dockworkers, administrative personnel, and commercial vessel crews should avoid Iranian naval vessels and military equipment," US Central Command said in a statement. The United States has been carrying out strikes against Iranian naval vessels, sinking or destroying 60 so far.

Maersk said on Wednesday that all operations at the Port of Salalah in Oman had been paused until further notice.

The company added this came in response to an ongoing incident near the general cargo terminal in Salalah, without providing further detail.

Shrapnel killed a woman following a strike on an arms depot belonging to an Iran-backed armed group in Iraq, health and security officials told AFP.

A security source said "a bombing targeted an arms depot at a military base", which mainly hosts the powerful Asaib Ahl al-Haq group, near the town of Al-Suwaira, southeast of Baghdad.

He added that "a woman was martyred when shrapnel from a rocket fell near her after the strike" in the town in Wasit province.

A local health official confirmed her death and said another person was seriously wounded.

Romania will host US refuelling planes, surveillance and satellite communications gear for its Tehran offensive, President Nicusor Dan said on Wednesday, adding the equipment was "defensive" and carries no munitions.

Dan had earlier convened the EU and NATO states' top defence council, which has now approved the American request. Parliament is also expected to approve the measure later in the day.

Romania, a staunch Washington ally, is home to a U.S.-developed Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defence system, deployed a decade ago in the town of Deveselu to counter potential threats to NATO allies. It was updated after Russia invaded Ukraine.

"We are talking about refuelling planes, some monitoring equipment and some satellite communications equipment in correlation with the Deveselu shield," Dan said.

"This equipment is defensive, it does not carry actual ammunition. To the extent that parliament approves ... it will be deployed to Romania in line with the US Romanian partnership."

Drones struck fuel tanks at Oman's Salalah port on Wednesday, state media reported, as Iran continues to target Gulf infrastructure in retaliation for US-Israeli attacks.

"A security source reported that several drones were shot down, while others struck fuel tanks at the port of Salalah," the Oman News Agency said, adding that no casualties were reported.

Private maritime security company Vanguard Tech reported the suspension of the port's operations after the attack on its southern section.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that the war in Iran must be stopped before the whole Middle East region is "thrown into the fire", adding that diplomacy must be given a chance.

NATO air defences have in the last week intercepted two Iranian missiles headed toward southern Turkey, where there are air and radar bases used by NATO and the United States, and the alliance has since beefed up defences there.

"This war must be stopped before it grows and the region as a whole is thrown into the fire. If diplomacy is given a chance, it is very possible to achieve this," Erdogan told lawmakers in parliament.

"In light of the sensitivity of the period we are in, we are speaking very carefully. We are acting with caution to protect Turkey from the fire that is surrounding it," he said, adding that Ankara was engaged with all sides in seeking an end to the war.

The United Nations aid chief warned Wednesday that the war in the Middle East was affecting aid supply routes and urged all parties to ensure "exemptions for our humanitarian supplies".

"I'm worried that actually further escalation will damage other supply routes," Tom Fletcher told reporters in Geneva, saying he was "appealing to all the parties to try and secure those routes, including the Strait of Hormuz, for our humanitarian traffic, and... to ensure that we have humanitarian exemptions for our humanitarian supplies".

US financial service group Citi asked its Dubai employees to evacuate their offices on Wednesday "due to heightened security concerns" as Iran threatened to strike US and Israel-linked banks.

Employees were asked to evacuate Citi offices in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and in Oud Metha, a source with knowledge of the evacuations told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive topics.

Employees at two other companies in DIFC also told AFP their offices had been evacuated as a precaution following Iran's threats.

Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was injured in an air strike that killed his father at the start of the US and Israel's attack on the country, the Iranian ambassador to Cyprus told The Guardian newspaper on Wednesday.

"He was also there and he was injured in that bombardment but I haven't seen that reflected in the foreign news," ambassador Alireza Salarian told the London-based newspaper.

"I have heard that he was injured in his legs and hand and arm...I think he is in the hospital because he is injured."

The daytime air strike on the first day of the war on 28 February on a compound in Tehran killed his father, former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as his mother and wife.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned on Wednesday of a long "war of attrition", as the conflict with the United States and Israel presses on.

"They (the enemies) must consider the possibility that they will be engaged in a long-term war of attrition that will destroy the entire American economy and the world economy, and will cause all of its military capabilities to be eroded to the point of destruction," Ali Fadavi, advisor to the Guards' Commander-in-Chief, told state television.

 US President Donald Trump on Wednesday told Axios that there's "practically nothing left" to target in Iran and that the war there will end soon.

Switzerland is temporarily closing its embassy in Tehran due to the war in the Middle East and increasing security risks, the foreign office said on Wednesday.

The ambassador and five Swiss staff members left Iran by land and are safely outside the country, it added. "They will return to Tehran as soon as the situation allows."

Switzerland will continue to maintain an open line of communication between the United States and Iran, in consultation with the two countries, the statement said.

UNESCO said it is deeply concerned about the fate of world heritage sites in Iran and across the region, after Tehran's Golestan palace, often compared to Versailles, and a historic mosque and palace in Isfahan were damaged in the war.

The United Nations' cultural agency on Wednesday urged all parties to protect the region's outstanding cultural sites, saying four of Iran's 29 world heritage sites had been damaged since the start of the US and Israeli war on Iran.

"UNESCO is deeply concerned by the first impact that the hostilities are already having on many world heritage sites," Lazare Eloundou Assomo, director of the World Heritage Centre, told Reuters, adding he was also concerned for sites in Israel, Lebanon and across the Middle East.

Hamas congratulated its "brothers in Iran" on Wednesday on the appointment of the Islamic Republic's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, and wished him victory in the war with the United States and Israel.

"We wish him success in fulfilling the aspirations of the Iranian people to defeat the Israeli-American aggression and prevent the forces of arrogance from imposing their will on Iran," Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for the Palestinian Islamist movement, said in a statement.

In a separate statement, Palestinian group Islamic Jihad also welcomed the selection of Khamenei and said "all the free peoples of the world stand with you".

Iran cannot participate in the 2026 World Cup after the United States killed their leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sports minister Ahmad Donyamali said on Wednesday.

"Considering that this corrupt regime (the US) has assassinated our leader, under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup," the minister told state television.

Iran's military on Wednesday said any ships belonging to the United States, Israel or their allies passing through the strategic Strait of Hormuz will be targeted.

"Any vessel whose oil cargo or the vessel itself belongs to the United States, the Zionist regime or their hostile allies will be considered legitimate targets," said the military's central operational command, Khatam Al-Anbiya, in a statement carried by state TV.

It reiterated that Iran's armed forces "will not allow a single litre of oil to transit" through the strait, adding that the "closure of this strait is the result of conditions imposed by the US and the Zionist regime," referring to Israel.

On February 28, Israel and the US launched strikes on Iran, killing its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and triggering a war which spread across the Middle East.

Iran responded by targeting Israel and US interests across the region.

Newly-appointed Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was lightly injured but is continuing to operate, an Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday.

The official did not give details about when he was injured or why he had not made any statement to the public since being appointed the new leader.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the joint bombing campaign with the US against Iran would go on "as long as necessary", insisting the strikes had inflicted heavy casualties on Tehran's forces.

"This operation will continue without any time limit, as long as necessary, until we achieve all the objectives and decide the outcome of the campaign," he said, adding that the Iranian leadership was fleeing "like mice into tunnels".

The EU has approved new sanctions on 19 Iranian officials and entities, its foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Wednesday, citing "serious human rights violations" in connection to Tehran's deadly crackdown on mass protests.

"As the Iran war continues, the EU will protect its interests and pursue those responsible for domestic repression," Kallas said, announcing the measures agreed by EU member states.

"It also sends a message to Tehran that Iran's future cannot be built on repression."

Spain government on Tuesday decided to remove its ambassador to Israel, according to the official state gazette published on Wednesday.

Spain's embassy in Tel Aviv will be led by a charge d'affares, a source at the Foreign Ministry said.

American refuelling planes, monitoring equipment and satellite communications could use Romanian military bases during the US's offensive in Iran, Romanian President Nicusor Dan said on Wednesday.

The American request was approved during a meeting of the EU and NATO states' top defence council, with approval from parliament expected later on Wednesday.

Iran on Wednesday accused the United States and Israel of striking a maritime ambulance boat at an island in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, local media reported.

"Following the US-Zionist attacks this afternoon, a maritime ambulance stationed at the dock of Hormuz Island was hit by missiles," Mehr news agency reported, showing footage of the boat on fire.

It said the vessel transports emergency patients from the island to Bandar Abbas in Iran's southern Hormozgan province. Other media carried similar reports.

Israel's foreign minister on Wednesday urged the UN Security Council to designate Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards a "terrorist organisation", as the US-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic raged for a 12th day.

"The Iranian regime's recent actions underscore that its aggression constitutes a direct threat not only to Israel, but to regional and international peace and security," Gideon Saar posted on X.

"I urge the UN Security Council to condemn Iran and immediately designate the IRGC as a terrorist organisation," he added, addressing a letter to the US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, who is the current president of the Security Council.

The IRGC is the ideological arm of Tehran's military and was created after the 1979 revolution to protect the clerical leadership. The Guards control or own companies across the Iranian economy, including major strategic sectors.

The US has already designated the Iran Guards a "terrorist organisation", with the European Union following suit in January.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday they had targeted several US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain during the war with the United States and Israel.

"Key infrastructure at the US base at Mina Salman port, the nerve centre of the US Fifth Fleet...was hit by Iranian missiles and drones," the Guards said on their website Sepah News, referring to US installations in Bahrain.

"At the same time Camp Patriot (in Kuwait), including equipment hangars, accommodation and assembly centres for American soldiers at the Mohammed Al-Ahmad and Ali Al-Salem naval bases, also suffered heavy losses," they said, adding that they also attacked the Camp Buehring base in Kuwait.

Iran's army said Wednesday it had targeted Israel's military intelligence agency, a naval base in the city of Haifa, and an Israeli radar system.

"Since this morning, the army of the Islamic Republic has targeted the Israeli military intelligence directorate known as Aman, as well as Israeli military unit 8200, the Green Pine radar, and the submarine headquarters building at Haifa naval base," the army said in a statement broadcast by state TV.

It added that the attacks were ongoing.

Qatar's defence ministry said it had intercepted a missile attack, while Oman's state news agency said it had downed a drone in the sea north of Duqm.

Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is injured but "safe and sound", the son of the president said Wednesday, offering the first official explanation for why the 56-year-old has not been seen since his appointment at the weekend.

"I heard news that Mr Mojtaba Khamenei had been injured. I have asked some friends who had connections," Yousef Pezeshkian, who is also a government adviser, wrote in a post on his Telegram channel.

"They told me that, thank God, he is safe and sound," added the son of President Masoud Pezeshkian.

An Israeli strike hit an apartment block in central Beirut on Wednesday, Lebanese authorities said, further widening Israeli attacks in the capital beyond the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs where heavy bombardment continued. 

Footage showed heavy damage to two floors of the apartment block in Beirut's Aicha Bakkar neighbourhood, and smoke rising from the building. Four people were wounded in the strike, the Lebanese health ministry said.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. 

Israeli strikes have killed 570 people in Lebanon since the Middle East war spread to the country on March 2, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

The ministry provided a demographic breakdown of those killed, reporting that 439 of them were men, 45 women, and 86 children.

The toll includes 14 healthcare workers, the ministry said.

Romania is set to approve Washington's request to temporarily deploy fighter jets at a Black Sea air base to help with its military operations in the Middle East, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. 

Pope Leo on Wednesday lamented the death of numerous civilians in the ongoing Iran war and also expressed closeness to people in Lebanon, saying the country, targeted by Israeli strikes, was going through a "great trial."

Leo, the first US pope, called on pilgrims in his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square to pray for peace.

"Let us continue to pray for peace in Iran, and throughout the Middle East, especially for the many civilian victims, including many innocent children," said the pontiff.

A drone strike in Iraq's Kurdistan region killed a member of an Iranian Kurdish armed opposition group on Wednesday, his exiled party said, with a senior official from the group blaming the attack on Iran.

The Komala party is one of several Iraq-based Iranian Kurdish groups that have long opposed the Islamic Republic.

At least eight drones targeted the party's positions, killing one fighter, the party said.

Komala senior official Ali Ranjder told AFP the two-wave attack hit the Zrgwezala region near the city of Sulaimaniyah. He blamed it on Iran.

Two fighters were also wounded, with one taken to a Sulaimaniyah hospital, he added.

"This is the most violent attack against our bases since the beginning of the war," another official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned on Wednesday a deadly missile strike on a school in Iran early in the Middle East war, calling for those responsible to be identified.

"On behalf of the government, I express my firm condemnation of the massacre of girls at the school in Minab, southern Iran," the far-right leader told the Italian Senate.

She offered her solidarity with the families of the "very young victims" and said she wanted "responsibility for this tragedy be swiftly ascertained".

France will provide 60 metric tons of humanitarian aid for Lebanon, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Wednesday.

"And what we have decided is to triple the volume of aid that will arrive this week. This aid will reach...60 tonnes of humanitarian aid for the Lebanese, including sanitation kits, hygiene kits, mattresses, lamps, and also a mobile medical post," Barrot said in an interview with French radio TF1.

An Israeli air strike killed seven people and wounded 18 others in an eastern Lebanese town on Wednesday, the Lebanese health ministry said, as the war on Lebanon entered its 10th day.

"The Israeli enemy's air strikes this morning on the Bekaa resulted in the following toll in Tamnin al-Tahta: seven martyrs and 18 wounded," the ministry said.

State media reported that the raid targeted "a building... inhabited by a Syrian family".

Bahrain's Civil Aviation Affairs said it had coordinated the successful transfer of aircraft from Bahrain International Airport to alternative airports.

The authority said the repositioning was carried out to enhance operational readiness. 

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that it is in constant contact with the Iranian leadership, and that Moscow is ready to contribute to a return to peace and stability in the region. 

Australia has closed its embassies in Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv as well as its consulate in Dubai, the foreign minister said on Wednesday, amid fears the conflict in the Middle East could intensify.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said at least nine cities where Australian embassies and consulates are located have experienced missile and drone attacks.

"The dangerous and destabilising attacks by Iran put civilian lives at risk, including Australian lives, and we continue to support Australians affected as limited commercial flights resume and we expand consular efforts," Wong said.

Iran cannot be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons alongside a missile capability that could soon enable it to strike Europe, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Wednesday, warning that such a development could trigger a nuclear arms race.

"We cannot allow the Ayatollah regime to possess nuclear weapons, combined with a missile capability that could soon be able to strike Italy and Europe directly," Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told the Italian Senate.

A Sri Lankan court has ordered that the bodies of 84 sailors killed in an attack on an Iranian warship off the island nation's coast last week be handed over to the embassy of Iran, local media reported on Wednesday.

The warship, IRIS Dena, was hit by a torpedo from a US submarine in the Indian Ocean while it was returning from a naval exercise organised by India, amid the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Three vessels have been hit by unknown projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz, maritime security agencies and sources said on Wednesday, as one of the strikes led to a fire onboard a ship and forced most of its crew to evacuate it.

The Thailand-flagged bulk carrier Mayuree Naree was targeted and damaged approximately 11 nautical miles north of Oman, two maritime security sources said.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said later, referring to the incident, that the fire had been extinguished and that there was no environmental impact. The necessary crew remained on the vessel.

Earlier, the Japan-flagged container ship One Majesty had sustained minor damage from an unknown projectile 25 nautical miles (46 km) northwest of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, two maritime security sources said.

Its crew members are safe, and the vessel is sailing towards a safe anchorage, the sources added.

A third vessel, a bulk carrier, was also hit by an unknown projectile approximately 50 miles northwest of Dubai, maritime security firms said.

The projectile had damaged the hull of the Marshall Islands-flagged Star Gwyneth, maritime risk management company Vanguard said, adding that the vessel's crew were safe.

Iran's top police officer warned protesters who support the positions of the country's enemies that they would be treated as such by authorities, according to footage posted by state broadcaster IRIB late on Tuesday.

"If anyone comes forward in line with the wishes of the enemy, we will no longer see them as merely a protester, we will see them as an enemy. And we will do to them what we do to an enemy. We will deal with them in the same way we deal with enemies," said national police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan in comments aired by IRIB.

"All our forces are also ready, with their hands on the trigger, prepared to defend their revolution."

Iran will target economic and banking interests linked to the US and Israel in the region, a spokesperson of the Khatam ol Anbia joint command said on Wednesday, adding that this threat follows an attack on an Iranian bank.

"Following their failed campaign, the terrorist US army and cruel Zionist regime (Israel) have targeted one of the country's banks," state media quoted Ebrahim Zolfaqari as saying.

"With this illegitimate and uncommon action, the enemy is forcing our hand to target economic centres and banks linked to the US and Zionist regime in the region."

The spokesperson warned people in the region to stay away from banks.

US President Donald Trump has said that Iran is "welcome" to participate in the upcoming World Cup in North America, despite the ongoing Middle East war, FIFA chief Gianni Infantino said Wednesday.

During a meeting to discuss preparations for the competition, "we also spoke about the current situation in Iran," Infantino, the head of the world football governing body, wrote on Instagram.

"During the discussions, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States," he wrote.

Two drones came down in the vicinity of Dubai International Airport (DXB) on Wednesday, injuring four people, Dubai's media office said, as attacks on infrastructure across the Gulf continued on the 12th day of the Iran crisis, which has caused widespread disruption to global air traffic.

"Authorities confirm that two drones fell in the vicinity of Dubai International Airport (DXB) a short while ago," the media office posted on X, adding that air traffic is operating as normal.

The attack resulted in minor injuries to two Ghanaian nationals and one Bangladeshi national, as well as moderate injuries to one Indian national, it added.